Crush Me With A Kiss
by BLUEanimeGIRL025
Summary: And there is that crushing feeling. It is fleeting. It comes and goes and leaves you breathless, wondering, what was it? A SasuIta, ItaSasu, Uchihacest story. Don't like it, don't read it - no flaming plez. And there's a better summary inside.
1. Life is a Pain

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Naruto... or Sasuke, or Itachi ^_~_

~And there is that crushing feeling. It is fleeting. It comes and goes and leaves you breathless, wondering, what was it?~

_**Summary: **__In an almost modern day world, Sasuke Uchiha is the last of his clan - except for his psychotic brother that is. Or at least, that's what everyone keeps telling him. Itachi Uchiha is an insane, wanted criminal who had killed off his entire clan 8 years ago, leaving only Sasuke alive. But you know, Sasuke had never really seen it the way that everybody else did...._

* * *

Fifteen year old Sasuke Uchiha, the last of his clan, silent and dangerous with eyes that sometimes flashed an unexpected crimson. And he was sitting in a crowded cafeteria with a tray full of crap in front of him, just like everybody else there. He let out a quiet, annoyed sigh. How very anticlimactic.

From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a tray identical to his own sliding down the table, and none other than the idiot Naruto Uzumaki sat down next to him. And of course he was accompanied by that pink haired fright, Naruto's girlfriend Sakura, who not-so-secretly had a crush (more like a crazed obsession) with Sasuke despite that. Idly Sasuke wondered if Naruto knew - hell, everybody else did - and then he remembered, oh yeah, he didn't give a shit. Let Naruto worry about Naruto's relationship problems.

You know, before _they_ had come along in Sasuke's life, people had actually left him alone. However, once the student body of this damned high school saw that Sasuke Uchiha would _not_ try to kill anybody who sat down next to him, everyone simply began ignoring him. And he didn't mind that at all. Except for the fact that now a certain chosen few - three in exact - felt the need to talk to him. It was _this_ three he had a problem with - Naruto, his stupid girlfriend, and that one blonde chick who was now setting her tray down across from Sasuke. She smiled at him tentatively, but his cold eyes stared right through her.

Because these three _bothered _him. He feared that nothing short of death threats would make them leave him be, and maybe not even then.

For a moment, Sasuke hoped beyond hope that today would be different, that today none of the three would actually talk to him. But he always hoped for this, and every day his hope was shattered by Naruto's loud, annoying voice. "Don't you ever cheer up Sasuke?" the blonde guy laughed, throwing an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and shaking him roughly.

Sasuke glared at him dangerously. It was tolerable when people sat next to him, somewhat bearable whenever someone talked to him, annoying whenever Naruto demanded to know why he was never happy - but Sasuke didn't _like_ people ever _touching _him. Pissed off beyond his invisible limit, Sasuke shoved away from the table, and made his way over to the other side of the cafeteria to dump his tray.

Usually, Sasuke had this thing about keeping appearances. Why? Because if anything ever got the slightest bit out of line, his teachers and therapists would jump on him in an instant. Sasuke was getting tired of them all jumping down his throat, sticking their shit-for-brains noses into his business all the time, holding up little cards with inkblot smears on them and saying in professional tones, _"Tell me, what do you see?"_

Maybe if he just told them what they wanted to hear they'd leave him alone. _"I see my goddamned brother tearing the guts out of one of my deceased family members."_ Would something like that suffice?

So usually Sasuke stayed in school. He was a straight-A student, though personally he could give a shit less about things like that. It was only for the sake of keeping those assholes off his back that he even maintained such annoyances. Lately though he was at his snapping point. There was a certain place in an Uchiha that, when crossed, they just lost it - Itachi's line had been way over crossed, and Sasuke feared that he was getting to that point too.

But what was the use in keeping up appearances when everyone in high school already knew your darkest secrets? They were always whispering about it, he always heard them as he walked by.

_"Isn't that the guy who's brother went crazy and killed his whole family?"_

_"Yeah. That's Sasuke Uchiha.... Don't mess with him."_

Slipping out of the cafeteria unnoticed, Sasuke made his way down one of the side hallways, and stuck his middle finger up nice and tall where the surveillance camera could see just before walking out the door. He was in the side parking lot now, where the teachers parked. Students weren't allowed back here.

It had been quite a while since Sasuke had ditched like this, but he figured he'd have to put up with everyone's shit no matter what he did, so he might as well do whatever he wanted.

Something was off about the parking lot, Sasuke thought, and there was an uncomfortable feeling between his shoulder blades. His back itched like someone was watching him, and he scanned the lot, which was usually empty of people by now.

There. In one of the cars parked -illegally- next to the building just a few steps away. There was a man sitting behind the wheel, and though Sasuke couldn't see his face, he had the distinct feeling that the dude was staring right at him. Normally he might have brought that middle finger back out, just because, but something beckoned him forward suddenly. Curious, feeling drawn to that car like a magnet, Sasuke didn't stop until he was at the tinted driver's side window. All the windows were tinted. He leaned over, his face near the glass, waiting. Slowly, the window rolled down, and Sasuke stared in shock. Suddenly, he was face-to-face with none other than his older brother - Itachi.

The years had not changed Itachi much. He still looked fairly young, though more troubled than Sasuke remembered. And oh yes, his eyes were a dangerous bright red now - a warning sign to anyone coming near. The most surprising thought came to Sasuke then, considering the circumstances; he wished that _he_ had eyes like that, so it would at least scare all the annoying people away. "Get in the car Sasuke," Itachi said, gesturing with a nod to the empty passenger's seat.

Without even the slightest hesitation, Sasuke did as he was told. His life was dull, and full of people who annoyed him, and all the ridiculous things he had to do to satisfy them. Sasuke had waited every day, getting up and going about his detestable daily routine, always waiting.... Something like _this_ is exactly what he'd been waiting for all along.

"Felling suicidal?" Itachi asked with a bitter smile once Sasuke was completely inside with the door shut. As if to show how much he really didn't give a fuck, Sasuke slammed his hand down on the lock of his door. Itachi grinned. "Still the headstrong brother I remember," he commented. "I wasn't actually expecting you to come out for another few hours... you know, when school actually _ends_ for the day. This works fine too I suppose."

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked bluntly.

"Right to the point then?" Itachi replied with a grimace. "You're not afraid I'm going to kill you?"

"Won't you get _arrested_ if we sit here forever?" Sasuke demanded. He wanted to feel the car move, to get some miles between himself and anything that had to do with anyone else. If anything, at least spending some quality time with his deranged, murderous brother would be interesting.

Itachi smiled, and finally started the engine. "Right," he said.

Sasuke waited in silence as the car got moving. His brother kept his eyes on the road, only glancing a few times at Sasuke - at least the guy didn't _drive_ like a total maniac. Neither of them felt the need to flip the radio on of course. Sasuke expected Itachi would start some form of conversation soon enough.

Although, he'd been expecting some sort of comment about how much he'd grown or... something like that an adult might say. But this was Itachi he was talking to. "So what's the word going around these days?" the older brother asked.

"That you're psychotic," Sasuke replied with a shrug.

Itachi laughed lightly. "And what do you think?"

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, thinking on how he could put his thoughts into words. "You knew what you were doing when you did what you did. And you don't regret it either," he pointed out. "I don't know about psychotic, but... more messed up things have happened." He shrugged again.

"So... what, you don't care?"

He hesitated again, searching for a good answer. "I'm just another kid in today's fucked up society," he said finally, glancing out the passenger window. He could feel his brothers eyes on him again though.

They spent the rest of the car ride in silence. Sasuke didn't care enough to ask where they were going, because he didn't care enough to start another conversation. It was a short distance though - they pulled up to a mansion-sized house just outside of town. It seemed to be the only place around for a while. "You have your own place?" Sasuke asked in surprise as Itachi cut off the engine. Was it really okay for a wanted criminal to live in such an ostentation mansion so close to the place where he'd committed the murders?

"I stay here with friends," Itachi replied lightly. As they got out of the car, the front door to the huge house opened, and a guy with long blonde hair stood, arms crossed, in the doorway. "Welcome back Itachi," he greeted Sasuke's brother. Then he spotted Sasuke himself. "You brought a playmate with you?" He grinned, and Sasuke actually felt a little offended. _Itachi's 'playmate?' _he wondered.

As they passed the blonde guy, Sasuke eyed him with a flat stare. This was one of Itachi's friends? He looked kind of... weird. Not dangerous exactly, but still not someone that Sasuke would want to hang around. The other guy suddenly leaned in closer to him, eyes squinting a little as if to get a better look at Sasuke. Obviously he had recognized the family resemblance between he and Itachi. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. "You brought your brother?"

"Shut up Deidara," Itachi said shortly. He grabbed one of Sasuke's wrists - because he'd stopped while they were passing that guy - and dragged him down the hallway. Things got a little confusing after that. They took many twists and turns down halls that all looked the same, Itachi leading Sasuke through a puzzling labyrinth of hallways. Sasuke wondered, if for some reason he had to leave on the run, would he ever be able to find his way back out? Well, if worse came to worse, he could always just break out a window or something.

They passed several rooms on their way to... wherever it was they were going. A few of the doors were open. Sasuke saw a kitchen, a living room kind of place, and a few empty bedrooms. And he caught glimpses of a few of Itachi's other so-called friends. There was a red headed guy, a creepy looking dude who'd dyed his hair blue, and a few others that Sasuke didn't really see very clearly. There was one thing that he noticed about them all though - they all had the same black jacket on. Each of them, with a single red cloud on the left sleeve. Curious, he glanced over at Itachi's arm and saw that he was wearing it too.

Sasuke snorted with laughter, and slight disbelief. Who did these guys all think they were? And even his _brother_ was involved? They looked like they were trying to be a bunch of bad asses or something. _Join the club, we've got jackets,_ he thought sarcastically, and wondered if all the other guys here were criminals too, like Itachi. His brother glanced back at him then, as if he could tell exactly what he was thinking.

Suddenly, for some reason, Sasuke noticed the hand that was still grasping his wrist. "What's with the purple nail polish?" he asked bluntly. As if ashamed by Sasuke's observation, and of the purple nail polish, Itachi silently released his grip. He did not reply.

Eventually they ended up in a neat looking bedroom. There was a bed with black sheets and a green striped bedspread (_strange combination,_ he thought idly), a green couch, a closet, a TV, and a writing desk. That was all. "This is my room," Itachi said simply. Ah. The color of the bed sheets made more sense now. Black. Kind of typical.

Actually the room looked more like a hotel room than a place where somebody actually lived. Everything was all in order. Well, at least Sasuke's brother wasn't a total slob like him. The only real personal items around that Sasuke could see, was the bottle of purple nail polish, and next to it an old photograph of he and Itachi from years before. Sasuke picked up the photograph while Itachi shut the door behind them, staring down at his own happy, smiling face. A tiny Sasuke with his arms wrapped around the neck of a thirteen-year-old Itachi, small fingers buried in his brother's long hair. Suddenly Sasuke remembered that their father had never liked Itachi's long hair - they'd always fought about it. Wow. He'd thought he'd forgotten most of those things long ago.

"Sentimental, are we?" Sasuke asked, tossing the picture back onto the desk.

"Sometimes," Itachi replied, as if he didn't care, and threw his jacket onto the couch. "Might as well sit down," he muttered, and with that he pushed Sasuke onto the bed. Itachi plopped down on the floor near him with a tired sigh.

"So was there a reason you dragged me here?" Sasuke grumbled as he sat up straight. He didn't _like_ people touching him, or pushing him around. Even as a child that had annoyed him about Itachi.

"Dragged? You came willingly as I recall." Sasuke thought he cold feel a vein throbbing on his forehead. "Actually I'm a little disappointed. No onslaught of questions. You didn't even look _surprised_ to see me." He glanced back at Sasuke with a perfectly straight face.

Sasuke scoffed lightly. "Sorry." When Itachi didn't say anything else, he continued, "I guess I just don't care."

"Is that right?" There was a hint of doubt in his voice. "So how's life been since I left?"

"Dull. Dramatic. Annoying." Sasuke sighed. "You would love my therapist."

"You have a therapist now Sasuke?" His brother smiled up at him slightly, obviously amused. Sasuke didn't care.

"Two of them, actually."

"And... don't you think there's anything that you and I need to discuss?" Itachi held eye contact with him, and Sasuke didn't need to be able to read minds to be able to tell what he was thinking. Itachi wanted to talk about _that_ _day_. The day, the reason why he had left.

Sasuke looked away, frowning. He couldn't handle that intense stare. Not when his brother's eyes glittered crimson. "Why talk about the past?" There was a flash of memory in his head, a picture of himself crying in Itachi's arms next to the broken, blood-covered bodies of his family members. "It's not like I don't remember it clearly enough."

"You remember that night Sasuke?" Itachi actually had the nerve to sound a little surprised.

"Of course I remember. How could I ever forget?"

_**.:flashback:.**_

_"Itachi... why did you...." Sasuke's little voice was stuck in his throat at the sight of his older brother, standing above the bodies of their parents, eyes flashing red. Itachi glared dangerously down at him for a moment, and for that moment, terror gripped Sasuke. Maybe Itachi was going to kill him, too._

_"Sasuke..." Itachi suddenly breathed, his voice returning to the familiar tones that Sasuke knew so well. The bloody kunai he grasped clattered to the floor, as thunder and lightning interrupted this terrible night. And then Sasuke was being pressed into Itachi's chest, whisked away from the gruesome scene and out into the downpour. Itachi held him close and Sasuke cried on his shoulder, tiny arms tight around his older brother's neck. "Don't look Sasuke," Itachi breathed into his ear. "Don't look at them."_

_"Why... why did you...?" Sasuke was crying too hard to get the words out. Itachi held him carefully, hushing him and running fingers through his hair._

_"Because I had to Sasuke."_

_And then his brother was pulling him away, grasping Sasuke's little shoulders in his large hands. Sasuke watched with wide eyes as the rain washed the blood from Itachi's face, and lightning blazed through the sky somewhere. "I have to go," Itachi said. "But I'll be back for you. One day, I'll find you again Sasuke." He took Sasuke's face between his hands, and Sasuke grasped his brother's arms, terrified at the thought of his leaving. "I'm sorry."_

_"No...."_

_There was a sharp pain to the back of Sasuke's head, and his little body fell limp in Itachi's arms. Sasuke woke the next morning on the couch inside the living room, a pillow under his head and Itachi's bloody jacket covering him._

_**.:end flashback:.**_

Sasuke scoffed again, trying unsuccessfully to shake the old memories. Years afterward the very same ones had still caused him pain - what could you really expect from a kid who'd gone through something like that? But he hardly thought about them anymore. He'd thought he'd forgotten most of the details by now. Obviously, he had not. "So what took you so long?" he complained. Itachi looked back at him as if to ask what he meant. "You said you'd find me again. What the hell took you so long? Been around here hanging out with those creep-o friends of yours?"

Suddenly, Itachi laughed. "So you've been waiting around for me all this time?"

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, not meeting his brother's eyes. "I've been waiting for _something_. And this is sure a hell of a lot more interesting than anything else that's happened in the past couple of years." He hesitated, then asked, "What is this set up you've got going on here anyway? The big house, the jackets, the weird friends? What's all that about?"

"I've missed you Sasuke," Itachi replied, managing to successfully throw Sasuke off guard _and_ sidestep the question.

"Yeah, well, I guess you would miss your only remaining family member," he grumbled, suddenly embarrassed, and Itachi laughed again.

"You can even joke about the fact that I murdered our family?" His tone was a notch more serious than it had been before. Itachi's eyes went sharply to Sasuke's face, but Sasuke remained unaffected by his brother's careless words. "You used to talk a lot," Itachi said when he realized that Sasuke wasn't going to reply to that last comment. He surprised Sasuke with the sudden change of subject though. "I could never get you to shut up. I guess I was kind of expecting to find the same Sasuke here today."

"Yeah well '_that Sasuke'_ is gone," Sasuke snapped, suddenly angry. "He died right along with the rest of his clan, and how does _that _make you feel Itachi?" Really, had his brother actually thought to find him the same innocent child that he had been eight years ago? No, Sasuke didn't talk much anymore and he didn't smile much anymore and he didn't have a whole hell of a lot going on in his life. Had Itachi really expected to find him skipping through the flowers?

"Guilty," Itachi replied indifferently. "I won't regret killing off our family, as you pointed out earlier. But if I killed you, then I am guilty."

"What," Sasuke said, annoyed, "so you just kept me alive back then because I was the only one you _liked_?" His brother gave him a look that clearly said '_yes_.' "Well thanks a lot Itachi! Now I have to deal with all kinds of ridiculous shit for you! All the teachers looking at me like I'm going to explode, therapists and their fucking inkblots, everyone knowing everything about me - talking about me, talking about _you.... _Jeez. You might as well have killed me back then, too."

It was silent between them for a moment, and after that moment, Sasuke felt a little ashamed of his outburst. He hadn't meant to lose his cool, (he hadn't known he'd had any left to lose), but he wouldn't take his words back either. "I was wondering when you were going to show some emotion," Itachi said quietly, and he wasn't facing his brother when he spoke this time. "You were never very good at hiding how you feel about things Sasuke. I knew you'd be angry. Do you hate me then, little brother?"

Sasuke actually had to think about that. Ever since the... incident... with his clan members' death, everyone he knew had picked up on this image of Itachi in their heads. They all envisioned him as the murderous villain with red eyes - scary, and insane. But Sasuke had never really been able to think of Itachi like that, not even now. No, somehow inside his head he still only saw Itachi as the protective older brother who had held him crying in the rain that night, promising to return. And so Sasuke was tempted to answer with a "sometimes," but what was the point?

"Hmph," he said instead. "Of course I do idiot," he muttered, but he thought he saw Itachi smiling.


	2. All For You

.:All_For_You:.

* * *

"So are you going to tell me or not? Sasuke demanded. "It's obvious you've been dying to. That's the whole reason why you brought me here right?"

"Tell you what, little brother?" Itachi asked glancing at him again.

"Why you did it," Sasuke said, putting slight emphasis on each word. "Why you killed our family, and left. You wanted a chance to explain it to me, didn't you?" He spread out his arms as if to say '_well here I am_.'

Itachi sighed, and finally got up to sit on the bed next to him. Sasuke felt weird having his brother so close, those red eyes staring down at him. Itachi was looking at him fully now. "Yes, that is partially what this is about. I do want to explain myself to you, and afterwards, I'll leave it up to you to decide whether you want to trust me or not."

"...Partially?" Sasuke questioned.

Itachi smiled the tiniest bit, and those harsh eyes softened somewhat. "I wanted to see you again of course," he replied, poking Sasuke's forehead like he used to do all those years ago. "I made a promise, after all."

Sasuke moved his face out of Itachi's touching range, and blushed, a little embarrassed at the bit of affection his brother had shown him. He decided to get back on subject then. "So go on. Tell me why you did it."

"It was for you Sasuke." Sasuke's eyes suddenly widened at that, and he stared in shock at his brother. What had he just said? "It was all for you."

The memories. Images of fallen bodies in the dark, Itachi standing above their parents' corpses.... "Don't say that!" he yelled suddenly, jumping from the bed. "Don't ever say that again! You make it sound like it's my fault that my family is dead!" He made an angry slashing gesture with his hand at the air, but then Itachi grabbed that hand. For about a millisecond, there was quiet confusion from Sasuke, and then Itachi pulled him roughly back onto the bed, next to him again.

"Sit back down," Itachi said, as if chastising him. "You should know I didn't mean it that way. So don't ever think that, Sasuke. It was never because of you, little brother, it was for you. For your sake alone. It's their own fault that they're dead, not yours."

"Why then?" Sasuke demanded. "How did you think something like that could ever... benefit me?"

Itachi sighed again, and Sasuke thought, for just a second, that he saw those red eyes become a little sad. "Don't you remember what he did Sasuke? What our father did to you?"

Sasuke stared at his brother, looking for some kind of hint as to what he meant, or a sign that he might be lying or making something up. "What are you talking about?"

"A week before I killed them. Remember? You were so excited."

* * *

**~~~ 8 years earlier**

Seven-year-old Sasuke was trailing along after his thirteen-year-old brother, grinning happily. "Are you sure mother and father will be proud of me?" he asked. Itachi smiled down at him. "Of course. You did very well." Suddenly Sasuke grabbed his brother's hand, and tugged insistently. When Itachi looked at him questioningly, Sasuke grinned again and stretched his arms up to him. Itachi grimaced the tiniest bit. He loved his brother, but this was always a little annoying. Without a word, Itachi grabbed him up and slid him over to hang from his back. "Aren't you getting a little old for this?" he asked tiredly. Sasuke always insisted on the two of them walking home this way.

Sasuke laughed, his still small arms holding tight to Itachi's neck. "Nope!" he said happily, stretching his legs out in a way that made it difficult for Itachi to keep from dropping him. As Itachi walked, Sasuke waved the folded sheet of paper in his face again. "I got a 'C' though. Father prob'ly won't like that very much." Despite the fact that Sasuke was in grade school, and Itachi in high school, they had both gotten their grade cards that day.

Itachi tried not to let Sasuke see his worry. It was true that low grades were intolerable among the Uchiha, but it was just one "C" (a high one, at that), and Sasuke was still so little.... Surely their father would be reasonable. Surely he would understand. Surely he wouldn't get too angry.... Sasuke was only a child, after all. "I'm sure it'll be fine," Itachi promised, smiling a barely felt smile. Sasuke laughed again, and suddenly Itachi grinned over his shoulder at him. Without warning, the older brother began to run, and Sasuke giggled so happily, clinging even more tightly to Itachi's neck.

Once they were home, all laughter ended for Itachi. Their father was outside, waiting by the door expectantly. Somehow he must have been aware of the fact that they had gotten their grades in today. "Let me down Itachi!" Sasuke exclaimed happily. For a moment, Itachi hesitated, trying to judge by the look on his father's face if it were safe enough. His father's face was always the same though, and there was no way to tell what mood he might be in. With a small smile for Sasuke, Itachi allowed his brother to slide down from his back. And as soon as Sasuke's little feet hit the ground, he was running toward their father, waving the folded paper happily in the air above him.

"I did very well!" Itachi heard Sasuke say as he placed the paper in his father's waiting hands. "The teachers and Itachi all said so!" Itachi approached more cautiously, watching his father's face intently while the man's eyes scanned over his youngest son's grades. "What's this?" he muttered suddenly, and Itachi was at his brother's side in an instant, fearing that things might abruptly take a turn for the worst. "78? That's a 'C' Sasuke." The man stared down at his youngest child with those cold eyes of his, until finally Sasuke's smile slipped, and he looked down at his feet in shame. Itachi put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, trying to comfort without making their father angry.

"I know..." Sasuke said quietly, scuffing his shoe against the ground.

"You know that a 'C' is inexcusable," he snapped, and Itachi could see that the man's temper was rising quickly. "And you say that is... 'doing very well'?"

"Father," Itachi interrupted, shoving his own grades at him. "I have mine as well."

The man looked over Itachi's more quickly. "Perfect scores again," he muttered. "Good job, though your last ones were better." _Of course they were,_ Itachi thought darkly. "Nice try, son, but you haven't distracted me well enough." Their father glanced down at Sasuke again, who was half hidden behind Itachi now. "Sasuke will have to be punished."

"He's just a kid!" Itachi cried, shoving Sasuke farther behind himself.

"He should know better!" his father yelled back.

Knowing that this would end badly, Itachi quickly told Sasuke to go inside and wait in his room for him. He didn't want his brother to see this. Sasuke nodded, but as he guiltily shuffled past his father to get inside, the man suddenly grabbed him by one of his small shoulders. "I don't think so!" their father bellowed, and he jerked Sasuke back forcefully. Itachi watched with horror-struck eyes as Sasuke's little body went flying, hitting the wooden railing of their porch and landing in the dirt. "Sasuke!" Itachi started to run to his brother's side, but their father was grabbing _him _now.

Itachi was spun around roughly, and punched hard in the face. He stumbled back, wiping the slightest bit of blood from his chin. He glanced over to see that Sasuke was struggling to get to his feet now, clutching at his stomach as he did so. Their father pushed Itachi aside roughly as he made his way toward Sasuke again. "No!" Itachi exclaimed, reaching out to stop his father. The man turned, and hit him again. Itachi stumbled once more, and managed to keep his balance until he saw his father's fist coming down even _again_. Once he was on the ground, his father kicked him - _hard_. Itachi held himself together in pain, but he was already pretty sure that one of his ribs was broken. It wouldn't be the first time something like this had happened.

But for Sasuke....

Sasuke was staring at him in wide-eyed fear, and then his eyes traveled up at his father, who was now standing dangerously above him. "Please don't!" Sasuke cried, but their father ignored him, and dragged the boy to his feet.

"How dare you disgrace the Uchiha!" And his fist raised once more, but this time, the punch was not aimed at his eldest son. "You really thought you could get away unpunished? You're just like your brother!"

And Itachi watched helplessly as his father beat Sasuke into unconsciousness.

A few minutes later - the ordeal had not taken very long - Itachi was struggling to carry his broken younger brother inside through the house. He stopped once, to catch his breath in the hallway, and cringed in pain. Yeah. The rib was definitely damaged, and it hurt like hell. That was when he spotted his mother standing at the kitchen sink. The window just in front of her face showed a clear view of the front year and the porch outside. She must have been able to hear Itachi gasping just behind her in the hallway, but she said nothing, didn't even turn his way. Itachi scoffed angrily.

* * *

**--{back to the present}--**

"But... he was just doing his job, as a father," Sasuke protested. He felt a little confused by it all. Yeah, he did in fact remember that day, now that Itachi brought it up. The way Itachi had put it made the whole thing sound terrible but... Sasuke remembered it somewhat differently. "He was right. Uchiha's aren't supposed to get things like bad grades. We... _were_ a high ranking family - what would've happened if one of us did something like that?" His father had just been doing what was best for them, right? "I... should have done better in school back then. I should have gotten better grades."

Itachi stared at him for an immeasurable moment, cold red eyes emotionless now. "There you are blaming yourself," he said finally.

Sasuke's jaw dropped. "I'm... not blaming myself for _anything._ It _was_ my fault. I knew better." Itachi scoffed angrily. "Our father was right to do what he did." Sasuke was convinced of it.

He remembered when he had woken in Itachi's room that night, his brother sitting next to him on the bed. _"Sasuke... are you alright?" _But Itachi had looked like he was in more pain than him at the time. _Itachi was clutching at his side, breathing laboriously. Not wanting to worry him, Sasuke smiled, and felt the bruises and swelling on his face pull the muscles tightly. "Yes. I'm fine." He paused. "I'll get better grades Itachi. I promise. Next time, father will be so proud of me."_

"Whatever you say Sasuke," Itachi muttered then, but his eyes were still a bit unfocused.

Suddenly, a strange urge came over him, but Sasuke beat it down, blushing a tiny bit. His brother looked so... regretful. For a moment _(just_ a moment)_,_ Sasuke had wanted to throw his arms around his brother's neck, like he used to do whenever Itachi had made that face in the past. Damn unbroken habits. "So... that's why you killed them?" he demanded, still not sure if he should entirely believe Itachi.

His brother nodded, but wouldn't look at him now. "I wouldn't let them hurt you again. Not ever."

"But then... why...." Sasuke thought for a moment, trying to find a good way to word it. "Why did you kill everybody else? If you were just mad at mom and dad, why'd you go off and kill the whole family?"

Itachi sighed again. "You don't understand, Sasuke." Suddenly, he stood, and Sasuke blushed in surprise as Itachi began to pull his shirt off. "See?" his brother asked, and Sasuke's eyes widened a little.

Thin, ropey scars crisscrossed one another all over Itachi's back. What could have possibly made marks like that? Itachi turned to face him. "You could have gone on to get good grades Sasuke. Our father wouldn't have punished you then - not for that, anyway. But if your grades slipped, even a little...." He made a helpless sort of gesture. "And then he'd start finding other reasons, different excuses. You forgot to take out the trash before school one morning, you didn't put your plate away when you were finished with supper, even something as trivial as a piece of paper you'd carelessly left in the floor. You weren't studying enough, your teacher didn't give you enough work to do. If you ever asked to go out, and especially if you ever went out without asking."

Itachi sat back down, pulling his shirt back on and flipping his ponytail out. "You were happy all the time. I didn't want to see all those things happen to you. At first I thought they would treat you differently than me. You were just a little kid back then. But then... that day, I think that's when I realized that it would never stop. Our father would never have stopped, Sasuke. He would ruin both our lives, making us feel as if it were our own fault. He would have taken everything, so...." He shrugged, looking away indifferently.

"So you killed him," Sasuke finished bluntly, but an uneasy feeling was growing in his stomach. He'd always kind of respected his father. Sasuke had only been seven years old when Itachi had slaughtered them all, so he'd never lost the childish sort of love he'd had for both of his parents. Sasuke had always believed that it was just punishment he'd been dealt that day, for getting a bad grade. Back then, he'd wanted so badly to be more like Itachi. Then, Sasuke's simple world had been torn apart.

"In this way, you are free," Itachi continued to explain. "And all the blame is completely on me."


	3. Do You Love Me Brother?

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Naruto._

.:Do_You_Love_Me_Brother?:.

* * *

"So are you ready to go home now, little brother?"

Sasuke scoffed lightly. "I'm not particularly looking forward to it. It's boring at home. There's no one there. Nothing to do." He thought for a moment. "I could always kick the crap out of Naruto again I guess. He never stops."

The two of them were still on the bed. Sasuke was lying on his back now with his arms under his head, relaxing. It was still somewhat mind blowing to think that he was here in Itachi's bedroom.

Itachi chuckled lightly. "Naruto Uzumaki. I had the impression that you two were... friends."

Sasuke glanced over at his brother incredulously. "How do you even know who he is?" he demanded.

Itachi couldn't meet his gaze. "I may have checked in on you from time to time."

"Tch. Creepy stalker." Itachi shrugged indifferently at that. "So... you didn't answer my question earlier anyway. If mom and dad were the only ones making you mad back then... why did you kill everyone else?"

"You really can't figure it out? Think, Sasuke. If I killed only our parents, our other family members would have taken you in, and do you think that they would have ever let me near you again? They would have hated me, and shunned you. That is what I meant when I said that you were free. It was all for you, Sasuke."

"You keep saying that," Sasuke muttered. "But I guess you're right about the being free part. Free as my teachers and therapists will let me anyway. But at least I'm not being brutally beaten by my father right?"

Itachi looked him straight in the eye, seriously, ignoring the sarcasm. "Right," he agreed. "So you want to stay here a little longer?"

"I might as well... if you don't care. What could it hurt to spend a few extra hours with my demented murderous brother?"

Itachi smirked. "So full of sarcasm today. No, of course I don't care to have you here. I'd keep you forever if I could."

Sasuke blushed, and ignored that last comment. "And you didn't answer my other question either. What's up with this place? What are you guys doing here?"

"...I'm afraid I can't tell you that Sasuke. It's best for you not to know." It was quiet for a moment, and then suddenly Itachi was leaning over him, one of his hand's on either side of Sasuke's body on the bed. "And Sasuke..." he said seriously, and leaned in close. For a moment, Sasuke thought that his brother was actually going to kiss him, but Itachi's face stopped just inches from his own. "I love you." And then he was up again, leaving Sasuke feeling strangely violated.

"Alright," he grumbled after an embarrassed moment. He turned on his side so that his back was to his brother. "You don't have to get all... mushy about it."

"Mushy." He could hear the smile in Itachi's voice. "You must be hungry. I believe I interrupted your lunch period at school earlier. I'll go fix you something to eat." Itachi got up, and paused at the door. "Sasuke. Don't leave this room."

Itachi exited, and Sasuke was left alone in his older brother's room, wondering, what the hell was he doing here anyway? He'd already found out a lot since coming here. He'd found out things about the past, things about himself, about Itachi... it was almost too much to believe. From where he lay, Sasuke could see the old photograph of he and Itachi. It was getting dark outside now, and there weren't any lights on in the room. Maybe if he just closed his eyes, just for a moment, he'd wake up at home in his empty apartment, lying in his own bed. Maybe.

* * *

He hadn't realized that he'd drifted. When Sasuke woke, it was completely dark in the room, and he probably would have thought that he was at home, except that Itachi's room had a different smell to it. Oh yeah, that and Sasuke could feel Itachi's arms around him. He grunted a little, and tried to shift away, but Itachi's strong arms kept him in his grasp. Since when had Sasuke's head gotten onto the pillow? Since when was he suddenly beneath the unusual striped bedspread? "Sorry," Itachi's voice said quietly in the darkness. His face was just inches away... Sasuke could feel his brother's breath on his face. "Did I wake you?"

Sasuke ignored that. "What time is it?"

"I'm not sure, actually. When I came back, you were asleep. You looked so vulnerable. And I'm the only one who can protect you here."

"So... this is you protecting me?" Sasuke asked, touching Itachi's arm meaningfully.

"Of course little brother." Itachi pulled him even closer. "I apologize if it makes you uncomfortable."

"You know, maybe you're more sick than I thought you were," Sasuke said harshly, but for some reason, they were still speaking in whispers. "It seems to me that you're just a pervert who has a thing for his little brother."

"And...?" Itachi asked, pressing his face even closer to Sasuke's. "What if I said you were right? I already told you that I love you Sasuke. You can believe that I'm sick, a pervert. I do love you, and despite everything else, that is the truth."

Impulsively, Sasuke pressed his lips to Itachi's. He wasn't sure why he did it. Maybe it was simple curiosity - what would it be like to cross those bounds? Or perhaps it was something else. Some deep, unfulfilled need inside of him making it's way out, a craving he'd always known was there but had never acknowledged. When they eventually separated, breathless (Sasuke had had to force himself away from Itachi; his brother had been reluctant to let him go), Sasuke felt the strange need to apologize, but held it back.

"Headstrong as always," Itachi commented quietly.

"If that's how you want to look at it."

They were both panting, and, unable to hold themselves back any longer, they crushed themselves against one another, each of them struggling to gain the advantage over the other. In that way at least, Sasuke and Itachi were alike.

* * *

It was hours later. Idly Sasuke wondered what time it was, but by now he was for the most part asleep. He could feel his brother - Itachi's warm body very nearly engulfing his own. Even after all these years, Sasuke still wasn't quite as big as his brother. Itachi was so warm, pressed up against Sasuke's back with muscular arms wrapped around him. Itachi was half curled over him, too - as if he were trying to shield Sasuke from the rest of the world, as if he wanted to keep Sasuke there forever....

"Are you alright, little brother?" Itachi whispered softly. There was actual concern in his usually emotionless voice.

"I'm fine," Sasuke said quietly. He sighed heavily, because his breathing still felt a little uneven. But he would not regret the things that had just happened.

Ever since Sasuke had woken earlier, time had seemed to be reversing in on the two of them. Somehow, an old familiar atmosphere had fallen upon the two brothers, even with... everything... that they had just done. They knew each other too well to be awkward with one another. And though so much had happened in the eight years since Itachi had killed their family, the old bond was still there. Sasuke and Itachi were still brothers, and they easily slipped back into the strange comfort that they had used to have around one another when they were younger. Sasuke felt suddenly safe - protected, and also somehow very small. Itachi would _always_ be his big brother, no matter what happened.

"Do you love me Sasuke?"

"Yes."

"Do you still want to know... about this place? Do you still want to know what we are?"

"...Yes."

"I will tell you. But I'm afraid you'll hate me."

Sasuke turned his body so that he could look at his brother. In the darkness it was difficult to see Itachi's face. "Itachi, you murdered everyone in our family when I was seven years old, and I've never hated you once all these years. If that doesn't do it, then I think I'll be alright with whatever you have to tell me."

Sasuke did see the small, bitter smile that crossed Itachi's face at that. "Alright. But I won't blame you... if you decide that you never want to see me again." Itachi took a small breath, and Sasuke waited. "I am one in a group of hired assassins. We are called the Akatsuki. Yes, jackets and everything. I'm here... on an assignment. I won't be staying near Konoha for very long. I can't."

Sasuke felt his breath catch in his throat at Itachi's words. Hired assassins? Well, it made sense... all things considered. "You... kill people for money?" Sasuke whispered.

"Yes."

"...Why?"

"Because," Itachi replied simply, his voice growing cold. "I am a criminal Sasuke. My hands have already been stained with blood. In this way, I am more or less free to do as I please. I've been waiting silently for a long time, waiting for something to bring me close to you again." He paused. "I am sorry Sasuke."

Sasuke shook his head. "No. It's... okay. I understand, I guess." For the very first time, Sasuke thought that Itachi might actually be a little regretful about the things he had done to their family. Not for _their_ (the family's) sake, but because he had actually done something so awful. He had killed people. And somewhere in Itachi's voice, Sasuke had sensed that his older brother felt guilty for that. Maybe he didn't _like_ killing people.

They fell quiet for a while, and Sasuke was nearly asleep when another thought came to mind. "Itachi, who are you here to kill?" His brother didn't answer, and Sasuke could almost feel the tension rolling off of him silently. "Itachi?" he asked.

"Shh.... Go to sleep little brother. The details are... they aren't for you to know. I don't want you subjected to my world like that."

"I don't want to sleep," Sasuke protested, shifting slightly so as to rouse himself into full awareness. His eyelids were getting heavy.

"You're tired little brother. Sleep." The last thing Sasuke felt before drifting into dreamless unconsciousness, was a light kiss as Itachi brushed his lips against his forehead.

* * *

_**A/N: **__Meh. I usually don't do smut stories. That's why I hesitated to write this chapter... and why it took me so long to finish it. I swear to you that I didn't just write this story for the sex scenes. Forreal. And I guess that's all I really wanted to say...._


	4. Let Me Paint You Purple

_**Disclaimer: **__Do I really have to say it? I don't own Naruto, mkay._

=Let_Me_Paint_You_Purple=

_**A/N: **__okay, I'm just going to put this very frankly - I have no idea what Deidara's character is like. o_O So I just kind of made up my own crazy little personality for him. I hope it's not too...uhh... weird._

* * *

**BAM!**

"Good mooorrrniiiing~!" Sasuke shot up in bed, the striped covers falling from his bare shoulders. "Time to get up little brother!" someone sang happily, and the curtains over the window near the bed were suddenly torn open, somewhat violently. Bright sunlight invaded the room, killing Sasuke's eyes for a moment.

"Ugh. Little brother?"

It was that blonde headed guy again. What was his name...? Deidara. The guy was half-leaning over Sasuke on Itachi's bed now, grinning happily. "You're going to be late for school," he said pointedly, abruptly poking Sasuke's nose.

Automatic reaction made Sasuke sit back so that his face was out of touching-range, and he blushed when he suddenly remembered that he was still very much naked. Sasuke quickly snatched up a handful of blankets, and pulled them back up over his head to slump over onto the pillow. "I'm not going to school today," he growled, annoyed at this random guy just barging in on his sleep.

"Aw, don't be shy little guy. Itachi told me all about your _passionate_ night together." Sasuke poked his head out, staring at the guy incredulously. "Just kidding," Deidara laughed, sticking his tongue out playfully. "But it's pretty obvious what happened. I mean, jeez, those bruises all over him." He shook his head with a tiny smile. "You musta been pretty rough with him last night."

Sasuke scowled probably as hard as his features would allow, trying unsuccessfully not to blush. "You're exceedingly hyper for someone who's a paid assassin," he growled dangerously, and wondered too late if perhaps he wasn't supposed to know about Itachi's profession.

But Deidara just shrugged. "It's a depressing job; somebody's gotta stay cheerful." He suddenly threw an armful of clothes right into Sasuke's face. "We washed your clothes for you. So be grateful and get dressed. _I'll_ be driving you."

"Where's Itachi?" Sasuke demanded, pulling his shirt on.

Deidara's face took on an poor imitation of seriousness. "Your brother regrets not being here to see your cute face when you wake up. I bet he was really looking forward to it, too." He winked. "Unfortunately he had pressing business to attend to."

"Business," Sasuke grumbled. Did that mean that Itachi was out killing people then? "Do you mind?" he demanded suddenly. Sasuke didn't feel exactly _comfortable _getting dressed with that guy standing there watching him.

Deidara propped himself nonchalantly up against a wall, as if prepared to stay there for a while. "Not really," he replied with a grin. _Whatever,_ Sasuke thought after a short awkward moment, and got up out of bed to continue pulling his clothes on. "Whoa, no way!" Deidara suddenly exclaimed, leaning toward Sasuke a little. Sasuke turned his body away from him quickly. "You're even more beat up than Itachi was!" the guy said with a laugh. "Damn. I'd like to be in the middle of one of _those _dog fights."

Ew.

"Itachi really trusts you to drive me to school?" Sasuke demanded bluntly as they climbed into the car a few minutes later.

"Of course," the blonde replied simply, throwing the car into reverse. The wheels spun suddenly, as the car shot backward so quickly it stole Sasuke's breath away. Scared the shit out of him. Once they were actually out in the road, facing the direction of Konoha, Deidara threw the car into drive. "I'm the only one here Itachi trusts." And he slammed his foot down on the pedal again.

It was a few minutes before Sasuke was able to speak properly. The scenery around them was flying by so quickly, he thought he might be sick just by looking out the window. Sasuke didn't dare to look over at the speedometer to see how fast they were going. His heart was still pounding wildly, too. "So... what was this... just a one night fling?" he asked sarcastically, a little breathless still.

"Of course not," Deidara laughed. "Itachi will probably come pick you up again after school today. I'm pretty sure he's waited like forever to see you. So you shouldn't think that last night was just a... a hit and run." The guy laughed at his own phrase of words.

In no time at all, they were in front of the high school, and even being the punctual person that he was, Sasuke was unusually early this morning. He watched blankly, a little exhaustedly, as Deidara rolled the tinted passenger window down, waved happily, and shot off again like a rocket. With all the students and teachers arriving in the parking lot, Sasuke was honestly surprised that the blonde guy didn't hit any pedestrians on his way out. And Itachi actually trusted this Deidara? Somehow, Sasuke had a hard time believing it. Completely worn out from his late-night excursions with Itachi - and not to mention the rude awakening from Deidara this morning - Sasuke tiredly trudged his way to his first period classroom.

"What the hell happened to your neck?" was the first greeting Sasuke received that morning, which was surely an indication of how _wonderful _this particular day was going to be. It had been Naruto who'd asked of course - the kid was an early bird; he was always at school before Sasuke was. On this morning, with his luck, Sakura was there already too. Naruto bent close as Sasuke sat down at his seat - the blonde dobe had good eyes, either that or the bruises were especially noticeable, because he'd spotted them from halfway across the room. For a moment, Sasuke wished that he'd just told Deidara to drive him home. Then again, the thought of that guy knowing where he lived was enough to make Sasuke shudder delicately. And that wasn't even considering the fact that Deidara was an assassin - forget the fact that he killed people for a living, the guy was a total perv.

"Are those hickeys?" Naruto asked, half sounding as if he didn't believe it. A silly, lopsided grin spread across his face, and Sasuke held down the urge to roll his eyes.

At those words, Sakura gasped dramatically. "What little bitch put her hands on you?" she shrieked, pointing accusingly at the harmless little bruises all down Sasuke's neck. Really, did Naruto suspect _nothing_ of his girlfriend? Sasuke reached up and pulled the collar of his shirt up a little, trying to seem casual and uncaring about it.

"Be right back," he grunted, ignoring the both of them. There was still enough time before class started anyway. Sasuke headed for the bathroom to check out his reflection. _Fuck._ It was worse than he'd imagined. _A lot_ worse. Sasuke clearly remembered the events of the night before, but he didn't _quite_ recall Itachi doing all _that_ to him. There was even a partially covered bite mark on one of his shoulders. Kiba Inuzuka, one of Sasuke's classmates who had some sort of freaky dog fetish, was also in the bathroom at the time, and he watched with a grin as Sasuke examined the extent of the damage. "Nice," the other guy said approvingly, and Sasuke scowled at him a little.

Back in the classroom, Sasuke decided to momentarily swallow his pride and ask Naruto if he had a jacket or something he could borrow for the day. _Probably could have asked Deidara for one of theirs,_ he thought with a little snort. _I could really be part of the club then._ "Sure, Sasuke." And Naruto had the nerve to grin maliciously while he said it. The blonde dobe led him by the arm down the hallways to his locker, and Sasuke fought the urge to throw him off. Best not to piss off Naruto just before he was actually going to do something nice for him.

"Take your pick," the blonde boy said, banging a fist on one of the lockers. The locker right next to it sprang open, the flimsy metal door shaking a little. The thing was stuffed full with books and articles of clothing all crammed together. "Don't worry, they're all clean Mr. Perfect Uchiha boy," Naruto said, crossing his arms. "I just keep forgetting to take them home."

Sasuke leaned in close to the mess, and grimaced. "I would prefer something that isn't orange," he remarked, and Naruto pulled out a thankfully not-orange hoodie for him. Black and blue with the symbol of a popular rock band stuck to the back. Sasuke didn't care much for the band, but he'd wear the hoodie if it hid the marks.

Thankfully, it _was_ Itachi, and not Deidara, who came to pick Sasuke up after school that day. Slightly annoyed, Sasuke tried to give Naruto his damned hoodie back, actually managing to get out a short "thank you" for the blonde boy. Naruto just grinned and told him to hold onto it though - said he might need it. So, Sasuke climbed into the car with his brother, aware of Naruto's eyes on his back, and as they drove off down the road - at a much slower, less frightening speed than Deidara - Sasuke idly wondered how Itachi's day had been. Glancing over, he thought he spotted a stain of blood on the shoulder of Itachi's shirt, but his brother hid it quickly. Sasuke said nothing of it.

* * *

"Deidara took you to school this morning?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah."

"Hm. He did the exact opposite of what I told him, then." The two of them were in Itachi's room again, and Sasuke was trying hard not to be self-conscious about the fact that his brother was currently painting his fingernails for him. "I told Deidara to make sure that no one bothered you. I figured you wouldn't want to go to school, so I thought it would be best just to let you sleep in. I didn't want to wake you, anyway."

Sasuke was silent for a moment, watching as Itachi expertly applied a coat of purple to his left thumbnail. "You weren't there when he woke me up. He said you had... business to do." Itachi bowed his head slightly, so that his long bangs fell into his eyes and hid his expression. "I don't want to know what you were doing. How long did you plan to be gone? You couldn't just leave me here alone all day."

"I was only away for about an hour. I was surprised when I got back and found you gone. It... frightened me a bit. Deidara, that idiot, told me you'd insisted on going to school."

"Hardly," Sasuke scoffed. "That guy's crazy. He drives like a maniac."

"We normally don't allow Deidara to drive if we can help it," Itachi said delicately. "He gets into too much trouble whenever he's behind the wheel. Take off your socks."

"What?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi pointed down to his feet. "Socks. Toenails next."

Sasuke sighed heavily, but didn't argue. There was really no point in protesting, and it wasn't like anyone was ever going to be looking down at his toenails anyway. Idly he wondered how on earth Itachi had picked up on such a strange habit - nail painting. If he were going to do something like that, Sasuke thought he should at least choose black over purple. "Deidara said that you trust him," he remarked, staring down at the sheen of wet paint on all ten of his fingernails. His feet were up on the bed now, and Itachi was positioning himself behind Sasuke, so that he could paint his toenails that way. It brought their faces dangerously close together, what with Itachi hovering over Sasuke's shoulder like that.

"Tch. To an extent. Maybe." A small purple bruise under Itachi's jaw line, not a lot unlike the ones on his own neck, caught Sasuke's eye then, and he blushed. Itachi appeared to have less marks on him than he himself had, though Sasuke clearly remembered being decidedly rougher than his brother had been. Itachi was far too overprotective (which was obvious, considering that he'd gone on an Uchiha-family-killing spree "just for _him"_ all those years ago) - it had actually gotten on Sasuke's nerves the night before.

Distracted by Sasuke's distraction, Itachi put the miniscule paintbrush away for a moment, so that he could trace the trail of tiny purple marks making their way down Sasuke's neck. Their faces were still too close. "I apologize if... this caused you any trouble today," Itachi said, pressing his lips to the place where the bruises were, as if kissing them would make them disappear. Sasuke had thrown Naruto's hoodie off hours earlier.

Sasuke looked away from his brother then, trying to seem indifferent about the whole embarrassing matter. Why wasn't Itachi as completely covered with purple marks as he was? Sasuke's brother had appeared to escape with minimal damage. "Whatever," he said lightly.

Itachi chuckled in his ear, nuzzling his neck gently. "I feel like I should apologize again," he commented.

"Why?"

"What we did... was probably wrong. I feel like I took advantage of you, little brother."

"Now you're just being stupid," Sasuke scoffed, trying not to blush as Itachi continued to nip gently at his neck and ear. "You're an idiot Itachi. Do I really look all that molestable to you?"

A tiny smile crossed Itachi's features, Sasuke could feel it against his skin. "Actually Sasuke...."

"You don't want to finish that sentence." He grabbed a handful of Itachi's hair, and pulled his brother's face to meet his own so that he could kiss him roughly.

* * *

Sasuke was apparently not as much of a clean freak as Itachi was, but still, his last shower had been two days before, and his hair was starting to feel fairly gross. He had Itachi point him in the direction of the bathroom - Sasuke had given him the options of letting him bathe here, or taking him home to do it - and probably shouldn't have been surprised when Itachi followed him in, shutting the door behind them. "What are you doing?" he asked, and it came out sounding a bit more annoyed than he had meant for it too. Uchiha's just weren't supposed to blush as often as Sasuke did whenever his brother was around.

"I told you - I am the only one who can protect you here," Itachi replied simply.

"Again with the 'protecting,'" Sasuke scoffed, thinking back on the night before. No doubt Itachi was just hoping to seduce him again. "There's no shower in this bathroom," he noted bluntly, looking up at the wall above the large tub.

Itachi shrugged, and reached over to turn the water on for him. Sasuke sighed heavily, and tried not to be embarrassed when his brother decided to help him undress.

Actually, it just so happened that Itachi's intentions were _not_ as especially heinous as Sasuke had originally thought. The guy just wanted the two of them to take a bubble bath together, like they used to do when they were little. It was overall really embarrassing, but if _that_ was all Itachi wanted, Sasuke figured he didn't mind so much. After all, it could be so much worse. It could be a repeat of the things that had happened the night before - and though Sasuke had enjoyed himself (thoroughly), he didn't really think he was up for it again.... Not for a little while, anyway. Actually, Sasuke had never before known that he'd _had_ a sexual side - it was just something else that had seemed nonexistent in his life. He'd never had any kind of interest in anything like that... until recently.

Of course, Sasuke would never admit out loud that he had actually _enjoyed_ having sex with his brother. It was just too... it was too... well it was just damn _wrong_, wasn't it? That was the problem here. Everything about this whole mess, this whole weird relationship that he'd managed to kick up with Itachi in just a day - it was all just so wrong on so many levels.

Oh well. What could Sasuke say? He was a rebel.

"Itachi, I am perfectly able to bathe on my own," Sasuke growled, slightly annoyed when Itachi picked up the soap and bottle of shampoo as if they were weapons to use against him.

"Don't complain little brother. Just let me get this out of my system and it'll be easier for the both of us."

Sasuke sighed again. Itachi made him feel like such a child - he insisted on _protecting _him, and helping him with everything. It was degrading really. Not that Sasuke had much pride left in this area. Still, he had to admit that the feel of Itachi's too large hands rubbing soap onto the various places of his body was rather... soothing. He didn't take the opportunity to make a pass at Sasuke or to hit on him at all, which was actually pretty surprising. The hair scrubbing afterwards was another story however, and Sasuke waited with impatience until he was finally able to sit back and soak. He wasn't used to leisure bathing - Sasuke was a quick shower kind of person, but the bath was really relaxing. It eased the tense muscles and bruises his body had received from Itachi the night before.

Or, at least it _was_ relaxing - up until the point that Deidara barged in, that weird redheaded guy trailing along not far behind him. Sasuke and Itachi's surprise was met with two equally surprised expressions. "Hey-" Deidara whined after a silent moment. "Itachi, you said that Sasori and me were freaks the last time we took a bath together. You totally stole our idea."

Itachi scoffed. "There are five bathrooms in this place. Go. Find. Another one."

Deidara sighed dramatically, and turned to the redhead. "I guess this one's already taken," he said wistfully as they drew away and shut the door again.

"Annoying," Itachi murmured, glancing over at Sasuke. He cracked a small, unwilling smile then. "There are bubbles in your hair."

Sasuke frowned slightly, and dipped beneath the surface of the water.

* * *


	5. A Weekend Apart

=A_Weekend_Apart=

* * *

Itachi _was_ lying next to Sasuke in bed when he woke the next morning, which he supposed was a plus. And thankfully, the two of them had not done anything _too_ inappropriate the night before, because Sasuke really wasn't sure how much more of it he could handle, (and that went for emotionally as well as physically). His brother was already awake when Sasuke opened his eyes. The blinds of the bedroom window were half-closed, allowing in only a little of the morning light.

"It's the weekend," Itachi said by way of good morning. "What would you like to do Sasuke?"

"Do?" he asked groggily. Sasuke grunted, pressing his face into the pillow. He was still sleepy. "I guess I need to go home some time," he said after a moment and a sigh. Truthfully, the thought of going back after the two days spent with Itachi... was quite depressing. There was nothing for Sasuke there in that empty apartment. Nothing at all.

"If that's what you want..." Itachi replied.

What Sasuke _wanted_ was to go back to sleep. Almost subconsciously, he scooted closer to his brother, which Itachi took as incentive to put arms around him.

"I don't know what I want to do this weekend Itachi," he said, his voice slightly muffled. Personally he was just glad to have a little extra time to let the bruises and bite marks heal before he had to go back to school.

"...You do need to go home soon," Itachi said quietly. But he sounded somewhat regretful for the fact.

Sasuke bit his tongue, holding back the words that would shatter whatever little pride he had left around his brother. However, when the silence continued, he figured he might as well go on and say them anyway. "Can't I just stay here?" he asked quietly.

"I'm afraid... I can't let you do that Sasuke."

Sasuke lifted his face to glare up at him - embarrassed that he'd actually said the words out loud and now Itachi wasn't even going to let him stay. "Why not? You can protect me, right?" He said the words half-mockingly. "That's what you keep saying."

Itachi stayed silent for a moment, and pressed his face closer until the bridges of their two noses were touching. Sasuke closed his eyes, still somewhat sleepy. "I can't protect you forever little brother. And I'll... probably be busy this weekend."

"Taking care of business?" Sasuke scoffed. "Trouble at work?"

Itachi smiled a little. "It's cute when you pout."

Sasuke blushed. "Not pouting."

"You are. Honestly, I'm touched." Itachi laughed lightly. "I'll take you home in a little while. Let's just stay like this for now."

"That... sounds good to me," Sasuke grumbled.

* * *

It was less than two hours later when Sasuke was finally at home again. It was a lonely sort of feeling - though he'd probably never admit something like that out loud. Uchihas didn't get lonely... even when their maniac psycho deranged brothers killed off all 99% of their family. And Uchihas _especially_ didn't get lonely whenever said maniac brother dropped them off at home.

Still, the apartment was dark and empty as ever. Even having all the dim lights turned on and the window curtains pulled back didn't make an improvement. It took Sasuke probably less than a full two minutes to decide that this apartment was the last place he really wanted to be. And on top of that, it felt strange now, not being around Itachi. Tch. Sasuke had spent eight years of his life trying to forget about his brother, and two days spent in his company had suddenly shot that campaign all to hell.

So, he left. He wasn't sure where he was going or exactly what he was going to do once he got there, but Sasuke had to escape from the irritating quiet of his little apartment. Funny - just days ago, quiet like that would have been a welcome sanctuary. And now that Sasuke was on his own again, back to his normal boring daily life, it was almost hard to believe that the past few days had even happened at all. Suddenly Sasuke was seeing things from a totally different view point - his life wasn't the way it had been before. Rather than bored, Sasuke's mind was racing. Probably the encounter with his brother was one of the most phenomenal things to happen in his life since the very day Itachi had murdered their family. It had... changed him somehow. He felt... weird; different... (and no, he didn't believe it had anything to do with the sex... maybe).

Sasuke found himself aimlessly wandering the dusty streets of Konoha, hands in his pockets and watching the people around him with a brand new set of eyes. He felt so weirdly misplaced here - and then realized that he had always felt that way, it had just taken some time spent with Itachi to let him see it. Sasuke didn't belong here in this town with these people. None of them knew him, and he didn't want them to.

Then, the last person that Sasuke wanted to see materialized out of the crowd. Cursing silently, he turned on the spot, but knew it already was too late - Naruto had seen him. In just a moment the blonde idiot was at his side, throwing an arm around Sasuke's shoulders in one-sided familiarity. Sasuke thought he could feel a few veins on his own forehead about to pop. Still, it somehow wasn't as much of an annoyance as it would have been a few days ago. Sasuke didn't feel the need to rip the guy's arm off anyway.

It was kind of strange, actually. In all the time that Sasuke had known Naruto (they'd been in the same schools together since they were little), Sasuke had never really figured the blonde boy out. He knew that Naruto was a happy-go-lucky annoying-as-hell egomaniac... but those were the obvious things. That was all on the surface. Really, Sasuke thought he knew absolutely nothing about Naruto's personal life - nothing that pierced the surface anyway. Throughout the years, he and Naruto had actually spent a lot of time together, despite their polar opposite personalities. If for some random reason, Sasuke ever felt the need to momentarily set aside his pride, he might just even acknowledge Naruto as a friend.

"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto said loudly with his usual grin. Apparently he thought nothing of the fact that they were standing side-by-side. "What have you been up to these days anyway?"

Sasuke simply shrugged. What did he mean? Was he referring to the bruises again? (In his own mind, Sasuke absolutely _refused _to think of the things as "hickeys" or... "love marks.")

"I mean - one day you just get up and walk right out of school, and the next day you come back looking like you've had some seriously rough sex. Then some weird car comes and picks you up after school...."

"Do you really pay that much attention to my life?" Sasuke demanded, irritated. Naruto noticed a lot more than he liked to let on.

The blonde boy simply shrugged. "Anyway let's go get ramen."

"You're perfectly able to get ramen on your own," Sasuke growled.

"Well yeah, but that's no fun. C'mon Sasuke, you look lonely anyway." So, he ended up letting Naruto drag him off to that ramen shop - Ichiraku's or something like that. _I look lonely?_ he thought.

Sasuke could put up with Naruto for the most part. If he just ignored the other guy's louder, more annoying moments, it actually wasn't so bad. Oh yes, and as long as Sakura wasn't around. Sasuke shuddered at the very drop of her name. Now _there_ was a loud voice that was impossible to ignore.

Sasuke didn't usually like ramen, either, but he didn't refuse the steaming bowl that was set before him. He hadn't eaten since just after school the day before. "Whoa," Naruto muttered after noisily slurping up a long line of his own noodles. "I don't think I've ever actually seen you eat ramen before Sasuke." Really, Sasuke wished the other guy wouldn't talk with his mouth full.

"I'm hungry," he replied with a shrug, and made a point of making better use of table manners than Naruto did.

Naruto devoured his bowl of ramen like a normal person breathes in air, and then actually ordered a second. Sasuke sat in silence, trying not to be annoyed by the blonde boy's obvious lack of proper behavior. Suddenly though, Naruto did a double take, and laughed out loud. "What's with the fingernails?" he asked with a foxy grin, and Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets again, embarrassed. Naruto continued to laugh.

"I'll give you your hoodie at school on Monday," Sasuke said as way of changing the subject. He'd almost forgotten about the thing, really - it was probably still in Itachi's bedroom floor.

"Eh. Whatever. Still haven't managed to get rid of the hickeys though, have you?" Naruto snorted with laughter. "Really, Sasuke, you've always been Mr. Asexual. Who the hell did you find that you actually wanted to sleep with?"

Sasuke silently glared daggers at the boy. There weren't many people in the world with enough balls to handle the weight of the Uchiha stare... but Naruto was one of the few. He sat there, grinning wildly and slurping his noodles while Sasuke sat surrounded by a dangerous aura of pure evil. "So, back to the hoodie," Naruto said casually after a moment. "What, did you leave it at your lover's place?"

Sasuke growled quietly, and Naruto laughingly threw that damn arm around his shoulders again. Except this time, Sasuke _did_ think about ripping it off. "C'mon Sasuke, you know I'm just messing with you. Don't get so uptight about it."

After a moment, Sasuke took a long, drawn out breath, and sighed heavily, allowing the anger to leave him for a minute. "Your hoodie is at my brother's place. I forgot it there."

Naruto's unusual following silence made Sasuke glance over at the boy. Naruto was staring at him with wide blue eyes, completely frozen with a string of noodles hanging out his mouth. And that was what made Sasuke realize that he'd said something he probably shouldn't have.

"Ah... that's.... " _Shit._ Sasuke's mind raced, searching for a way to climb out of the hole he'd so casually dug himself into. "Look, I've gotta go. Thanks for the ramen, or whatever." Feeling like a bigger idiot than he'd thought possible, Sasuke left Ichiraku's, leaving Naruto staring at him in shock from behind.

* * *

"How are you feeling today Sasuke?"

The same routine questions. Sasuke was back with his therapists in Konoha again. The fact that he'd skipped a half day of school that week had given the shrinks reason enough to call an emergency session. Both of his therapists were with him now - usually he only had to deal with one at a time.

Sasuke sighed heavily. "I _feel_ fine," he muttered. He realized that he was letting his usual cool slip, but at the moment, Sasuke just didn't feel like putting up with this shit anymore. Not that he had much better to do, but still....

"You seem angry," the female one took note. Sasuke had never really taken the time to get their names memorized. He just didn't care.

Sasuke didn't reply to that, and the male therapist began looking through a clip board of papers as if _they_ would be able to explain Sasuke's unusual behavior. "It says here you left school early the other day." _Oh, here we go,_ he thought. "Mind telling us why, Sasuke?"

_Yes, I do mind dammit. It's none of your fucking business._

"Has anything... happened Sasuke?" the woman asked, false concern ringing clear in her voice.

"Nothing," Sasuke replied simply. _Oh yeah, except for the fact that I've been reunited with my murderous brother, and the other night we had hot and wild sex together._

As if reading his mind, the male took note of and made a comment about the bruises covering Sasuke's neck. Sasuke hadn't really bothered to cover the things up before coming here, but now he realized that he probably should have. He should have guessed that his therapists of all people would have something to say about it.

Sasuke decided not to answer that one either.

"Have you become... sexually involved with someone Sasuke?" the woman asked.

Sasuke scoffed, and tried not to blush. It was strange - he'd never blushed before; before he'd met up with Itachi again. "I hardly think that my personal life is any of your business."

The two therapists shared a long look. "It is our business," the man said. "Sasuke we want to help you. But in order for us to do that, you have to let us in."

"Yes," the woman agreed eagerly. It seemed that they would jump on any chance they had to play twenty questions with him. They wanted to snoop - wanted to know the things going on inside his head. Sasuke hated it. "Please, _talk_ to us Sasuke."

"Tch. Fuck you both." With that, he got up and left the room, knowing full well that he was only causing more trouble for himself, and not caring one bit.


	6. I Don't Mean To Break You

=I_Don't_Mean_To_Break_You=

_**Warning: **__This chapter is full of angsty Narutos and angsty Uchihas._

_**A/N: **__With the warning said and done, I just want to tell you guys that---I truthfully and honestly really did not mean for this to turn into another one of my long chapter stories. As it happens, plot bunnies are sneaking into my dreams at night and planning world domination. At the moment, I have absolutely no idea how many chapters this story will develop into.... It's a frightening thought, ne?_

* * *

It was finally Monday - thank god. Sasuke supposed that that would sound weird, if anyone ever heard another human being actually say that out loud. For most people, Mondays were the most detestable days of the week, and under normal circumstances, Sasuke was one of those who detested Mondays the most. Because, under normal circumstances, Sasuke hated the first day of the school week with an indescribable, fiery passion. In his mind, Monday equals school, school equals people, and people equals... extreme irritation. Weekends were a blessing from the heavens, and Sasuke enjoyed every bit of them with silence and gratification.

But that had been before he'd started this new... affiliation with Itachi. All of _this _particular weekend, he had been what one would almost describe as impatient, waiting for the first day of the school week to roll around. Because _this_ particular Monday meant that Itachi would pick him up again - didn't it?

Sasuke usually walked home from school - he liked walking, even if being in town did raise the chances of someone trying to talk to him, or of somebody running into him. When class finally let out on that Monday afternoon, he waited by the buses, somewhat irritated as he kept an eye out for Itachi's - or even Deidara's - car.

"Looking for somebody?" Naruto asked offhandedly. Because, normally, Naruto walked home, too.

The blonde boy had been watching Sasuke especially carefully all throughout the school day, and if Sasuke weren't so preoccupied by thoughts of his brother, it probably really would have started to annoy. As mentioned earlier, Naruto noticed more things than he liked to let on to - he was worried about Sasuke, that was evident. As ridiculous and as immature as he acted in public, Sasuke knew that his rival-slash-friend was nowhere near as stupid as he liked to pretend. Naruto had seen that something suspicious was going on with Sasuke, and now he knew that it had something to do with Itachi. Sasuke hoped that the blonde guy wasn't stupid enough to go to one of the teachers or the police about it. He hoped that Naruto had enough faith in him to let him make his own decisions, dammit.

Sasuke shrugged at Naruto's question, trying to seem casual. "No one in particular," he muttered, and since he and Naruto walked the same way to get home everyday, Sasuke was forced to move along. Itachi was running late anyway. Maybe he'd had more "business" to attend to.

It was... a surprising sort of profound feeling, when Itachi did not come to see him at all that day. Sasuke had been hoping... and he'd looked forward to it all weekend. Because Itachi was the only thing of any importance that had happened in Sasuke's life for so long, even if it was the most fucked up situation Sasuke thought that anyone could be in. Compared to the two days he'd spent with his brother, the rest of Sasuke's life was... even more dull and depressing than usual. He waited at his apartment most of the day - because hadn't Itachi said something along the lines of the fact that he'd spied on him and Naruto a couple times before? Surely Itachi _knew_ where Sasuke's apartment was. If he wanted to come get him, it wasn't a big deal.

But Itachi didn't come, and Sasuke retired for bed early that night, not sure if he felt more angry or sad... and was thereupon angry at himself again for the fact that he'd even be _sad_ in the first place.

Sasuke half considered skipping school the next day. So maybe the thing with Itachi was over now. Maybe... Sasuke's brother had left Konoha again. Maybe he'd been assigned another job somewhere else - he _had_ said that he'd have to leave soon, right? So was Sasuke left here alone again now, to be trapped inside the glass box that was his life? With therapists on one side, teachers on the other, and a wide-eyed Naruto Uzumaki who seemed to be so worried about him....

Naruto was especially quiet at school again that day, and Sasuke was as well - though on Sasuke's part, no one noticed of course, because _he_ was unusually quiet to begin with. However, whenever Naruto Uzumaki was quiet, it was usually something to be feared. That the dobe was actually _thinking_ so hard meant that he had something heavy on his mind. He was very watchful of Sasuke, whenever Sasuke wasn't looking - the raven haired boy could practically feel Naruto's eyes constantly drilling into the back of his head.

But it wasn't until after the school day let out that Naruto actually tried to say anything about it. Sasuke wasn't very hopeful as he watched for Itachi's car from the parking lot. Naruto was standing nearby, brooding again it looked like. His eyes were serious and far off as he stared directly _at _Sasuke again. Sasuke just tried to ignore him, as he usually did - and yet somehow, the silence of his rival/friend had a profound effect on him. It was because he knew that it had to do with things left unsaid - things unpleasantly dealing with Itachi, and those icky Sasuke Uchiha emotions that he didn't like dealing with. Naruto had found out one of Sasuke's biggest secrets - no, scratch that, Itachi was _definitely_ Sasuke's biggest secret. Naruto knew, and the blonde dobe was actually worried about him. And though Sasuke had always sworn to hate him....

"Sasuke?" Naruto said suddenly, breaking the silence. All around them were the typical noises of a high school as the students filed out of the building - all talk and laughter as they separated, boarded buses, and headed home. Sasuke wondered - did they have families waiting for them there? Were they happy? Did any of them have apartments as empty as his was? It was weird that he was thinking like this. Usually Sasuke was so... well, not like _this_. He'd end up a useless heap of un-Uchiha-like depression if he kept this up.

"What dobe?" he asked, trying to add a tone of _you still get on my nerves_ to his voice.

"The other day... you said something about your brother. And you've been acting different too." Naruto stepped up to Sasuke's side now, so that no one passing by would be able to catch their conversation. "I guess you were right. I do pay a lot of attention to your life - and I don't mean to creep you out or nothin' but it's just that no one else watches you like I do so I guess they wouldn't notice. Anyway. If... something happened, you could tell me about it... if you wanted to. I guess you don't have many friends huh? Wow, that was a real ass of me to say wasn't it? Sorry. Guess I just got carried away...."

"Tch. Shut up Naruto." The blonde boy eyed him warily, blue eyes wide and a little offended at the quiet way Sasuke had interrupted his ramblings. With a little sigh, Sasuke turned his face away so that Naruto would not see his half grimacing expression. "You're an idiot, Naruto."

But he knew Naruto was smiling. Because calling someone an idiot, unless he was shouting it and/or tagging it on with the occasional death threat, was Sasuke's way of saying something else entirely.

* * *

"Is... have you been... with Itachi lately? Is that who's been picking you up from school and stuff?" Sasuke couldn't have been more surprised by Naruto's conclusion. Wow. The blonde dobe actually had a thinking process. Actually, he was pretty good at solving things like that - not puzzles of course. When it came to anything that really mattered (or at least, the things that _Sasuke_ considered as what really mattered) Naruto really sucked at figuring things out. He was bad at logical thinking. Due to the influence of the Kyuubi inside him, Naruto depended more on instinct - which was probably what made him so good at reading people. It was what gave him the power to say the things that really _effected_ people. And damn him for it, because it also meant that he was one of the only people who could possibly begin to understand Sasuke Uchiha.

So Sasuke didn't really have an answer for him. He couldn't believe that Naruto had gone so far as to work that much out on his own already. How could he possibly have guessed, just by Sasuke's little slip up at the ramen shop the other day, that with Itachi is where Sasuke had been spending all his time?

He wasn't really pressed for an answer though, because they were still standing there in the parking lot, and some friends suddenly called Naruto over. Shooting one last worried glance at Sasuke, Naruto turned to the people who were shouting his name, mumbling something about how he'd be right back. Sasuke watched him for a minute - studied the completely at ease Naruto Uzumaki as he chatted happily and animatedly with friends. It was then that a certain car caught Sasuke's eye from the crowded lot. Itachi. It was Itachi. He hadn't left after all....

Taking a quick look over to see that Naruto was still distracted, Sasuke took off at a light sprint, suddenly anxious as he jumped this way and that, avoiding vehicles - the moving as well as the stationary ones. Finally, he made it to his brother's car, and opened up the passenger side door, climbing in without hesitation. Itachi eyed him warily, and Sasuke sighed as they pulled out of the busy parking lot. As they drove away from the school, Sasuke caught a glimpse of Naruto - blue eyes now saddened somehow - watching their car as it sped off.

* * *

All was quiet in the car, which was not unusual when it came to Sasuke and Itachi, but as it had with Naruto before, the silence seemed heavier than it normally was. Itachi's expression was strangely dark, and Sasuke couldn't help but wonder what his older brother had spent the last few days doing. Killing people again? Well... it _was_ what he did for a living. If he was just going to get all depressed about it, then he had no one to blame but himself. Right?

"You seemed to be having an... intense conversation with Naruto Uzumaki back there," his brother noted. What was with that tone in his voice? He sounded... not sad exactly... maybe angry.

"Well... yeah." Sasuke shrugged it off. He wanted to know where Itachi had been - why he hadn't come to pick him up after school the day before.

"Sasuke. You know how foolish it would be for you to tell someone about me. I figured that you wouldn't need to be warned, but apparently I was wrong."

Sasuke's breath caught in his throat. "I didn't... I didn't tell anybody...."

"Really?" Itachi turned those red eyes on Sasuke for a moment, and just then, the crimson in them seemed to glow brighter than it had in all the time during those two days they had spent together. "You really didn't tell Naruto?"

"I... it- it slipped out. I didn't mean... Naruto wouldn't...."

Itachi sighed heavily, and it came out sounding more annoyed than Sasuke expected. "How could you be so stupid as to let someone find out that I am here Sasuke? Especially the type like Naruto Uzumaki. Don't you know that he'll only cause trouble?"

Sasuke flinched away from his brother's harsh tone. He'd heard it many times before, in the past, but words like that had never been directed toward _him_. Itachi glanced over at him again, and after a moment, seemed to calm. "I'm sorry Sasuke. I didn't mean to get angry."

"...Where were you yesterday?" Sasuke asked, looking out the passenger window so that Itachi wouldn't see the look on his face. There was something wrong here. The atmosphere almost... frightened him, and Sasuke Uchiha was rarely frightened.

"I had things to do," Itachi replied shortly, and somehow Sasuke knew that that was all he was going to get out of him, even if he pressed him about it.

"You won't... do anything to Naruto right?" Sasuke asked, fighting to keep his voice casual, firm, normal. No answer. "You're leaving soon aren't you." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Naturally. I already told you that I couldn't stay here Sasuke."

"...I want to go with you." He'd already decided on it. He was bent on going with Itachi, even if he, Sasuke Uchiha, had to become an assassin himself. He would not be separated from his brother now that they had found each other again.

"No, Sasuke." It was the Itachi Uchiha _"absolutely-not, this-is-for-your-own-protection"_ voice.

"I have to go with you Itachi."

"You can't."

"Why not?!" In an argument, Sasuke never liked to be the first to raise his voce -- didn't like to think that he could be the first to become emotional. He didn't like knowing that he had fallen so hard for his brother - in so many ways, Itachi was Sasuke's downfall, time and time again. After the eight years of making himself cold to the world, Itachi had come right back into his life, and Sasuke was reverted back to actually having deeper thoughts and feelings. Time had reversed so quickly, and was falling apart so fast. Itachi would be leaving, Sasuke had known that it was inevitable, and the worst possible thing that his brother could do to him now... would be to walk back out of Sasuke's life again. For the second time, he'd be leaving Sasuke raw and unprotected from the world. If Sasuke didn't take his chance to go with Itachi now... to follow Itachi when he left....

"Don't you get it?" he cried, staring accusingly at his brother. Itachi only glanced at him, red eyes still wary. "There isn't _anything_ for me here. Nothing was important at all until _you_ came along. Nothing made any sense until you found me again. You can't just leave me here again Itachi. You can't just promise to come back and expect me to wait for another eight years."

Itachi was all silence. And then, he pulled the car off onto the side of the road. It wasn't until then that Sasuke realized they weren't heading in the right direction - that big mansion where Itachi and his friends all stayed was all the way over on the _other_ side of the outskirts of Konoha. But why didn't Itachi want to go there? Unless he wasn't planning on spending much time with Sasuke today...? Maybe he had other things to do again. Maybe it was already time for him to leave. Maybe this was him saying goodbye, right here and now.

Itachi shut off the engine, and leaned forward for a moment, head bowed a little and hands gripping the sides of the wheel tightly. Sasuke waited; Itachi sighed. "And what if I let you, Sasuke? What if I wanted you to leave with me right now? Would you be ready for something like that? You've lived the entirety of your life in Konoha. Would it be so easy for you to leave it behind? Every place you're familiar with, every face you know.... Would you have the strength to say goodbye to them? Could you really part from that so easily?"

Sasuke... didn't know what to say. "Of course I could," he mumbled automatically. Of course. If it meant being with Itachi. Right? There really was nothing for him here. What was there to say goodbye to? Sakura, Ino, Naruto... teachers, like Kakashi and Iruka-sensei... all annoyances. They all just _bothered_ him, didn't they? There was no one for him here. There would never be anyone for Sasuke but Itachi.

"They annoy you because they care about you Sasuke," Itachi muttered, as if he could read his mind. Sasuke bowed his head, hiding his eyes behind his bangs while he thought. Being who he was, Sasuke was stubborn as hell when it came to things like this. "Why are we even having this conversation?" he demanded quietly. "I _am_ going with you Itachi. I have to, whether you want me around or not." It was selfish. But Sasuke didn't care.

"Sasuke...." Itachi sounded annoyed again. Suddenly the older Uchiha opened up his car door, and curtly stepped outside. A little surprised, Sasuke followed suit. Itachi was leaning against the side of the car now, pulling out a cigarette.

"I didn't know you smoke," Sasuke commented.

"Normally, I don't." That was all he said. Itachi raised a lighter to his lips, but suddenly Sasuke grabbed the death stick right out of his brother's mouth, and stomped it into the ground. "That's disgusting," he retorted, honestly offended by such a simple gesture. Really, wasn't Itachi supposed to be setting a good example for him? Ha. Too late for that, although, it was a comical sort of thought.

Itachi smiled slightly at him. "Of course," he said, casually tossing the lighter out into the road, where it was soon run over by the wheels of several cars. Sasuke should have guessed. If he told Itachi not to smoke, then Itachi wouldn't smoke. Still, Sasuke thought that there was probably nothing he could do to stay near Itachi... if Itachi didn't want him around. It was a rather depressing thought. Why wouldn't Itachi want him?

"Sasuke, let's say that I did allow you to come with me. That I did allow you to follow in my footsteps, as much as I despise myself for doing what I do. Even if you did manage to say goodbye to your home and your friends, would you be willing... to do what it takes?"

Sasuke swallowed roughly. He could feel acid in his throat. "Kill people you mean?" he asked quietly.

Itachi inclined his head as if to say _"Well, yes."_

"I... if I could... be with you, I think I could do it." Sasuke didn't really want to think about it. He'd do anything to stay close to Itachi now.

"Do you really mean that little brother?" He waited, but Sasuke said nothing. "Would you be prepared... to kill your closest friend?"

Sasuke's head snapped up, and he stared at Itachi in shock. His closest friend?

"Naruto Uzumaki _knows _now. He will have to be... taken care of." Itachi spoke so casually. He looked as though he were talking about the weather. "No doubt that would be your initiation into the Akatsuki. You would _have _to become a member of course. It's the only way you'd be permitted to stay near me. And we'd be separated of course. Several times, probably, because we'd be given different... assignments. I already have a partner. Kisame. Probably, you'd be working on your own."

Sasuke swallowed again, more than once, before he could speak. "K-kill Naruto?" Naruto was going to have to die? Just because of some... slip up?

"Yes. It will have to happen now. There's no avoiding it. Not now that he knows I'm here."

Naruto was going to die... because of Sasuke? Naruto's death... would be all his fault. For something as stupid as one wrong word. All because of a stupid hoodie that Sasuke had left lying on Itachi's bedroom floor. "Naruto doesn't have to die," he said quietly. "Nobody else knows right? You and me are the only ones who... none of the other guys know that Naruto knows. I could lie to him. Naruto would believe me, probably. If I told him... it was just a misunderstanding. And... it's not like he would do anything anyway. Even if I told him everything, the truth, he wouldn't do anything about it if I asked him not to." In all honesty, Sasuke knew that he didn't have to resort to violence. Not all the time. Not when it came to Naruto. Because Naruto listened. Naruto knew Sasuke. He was one of the few people who believed in Sasuke... even if it seemed at times that Naruto put too much faith in just about _everything_.

"It doesn't work like that Sasuke."

Silence, except for the disturbing _whoosh_ing sound of cars as they sped by. The slight crackling noise of Itachi's lighter being smashed and run over.

"Let's go Sasuke."

* * *


	7. Keep You

_**A/N: **__Have you noticed that the chapter titles (so far) are all basically from Itachi's POV? =)_

_Not really sure why that's significant at the moment... it's quite late and my thinking process has turned to mush... but I'm sure something about it'll come up some time later on in the story! Maybe. I mean, if I can even remember why I thought it was important in the first place. o_O _

* * *

"How did you know about me accidentally telling Naruto about you anyway?" Sasuke demanded once they were nearly at the big house of the Akatsuki again.

Itachi shrugged lightly, but there was still something in his expression. Something that was a little off. He was troubled - not that Sasuke could really say that he was skipping through a field of daisies himself. "I was paying attention to your and Naruto's conversation at the school earlier. Not that I could hear what you were saying. But I can read body language easily enough."

"So you just... guessed?" Itachi inclined his head a little at that, not answering aloud. "So when you asked, if I hadn't admitted to it..." If Sasuke hadn't admitted to it, then Naruto wouldn't have to die. Oh -- shit.

"I would have known if you were lying anyway." Itachi glanced over at him from the corner of his eye. "_You _are all too easy to read, little brother."

Sasuke glared silently at him for that, and crossed his arms over his chest, turning to the window. Conversation wasn't necessary until they were in Itachi's room again. Sasuke didn't feel like talking to his brother anymore right now.

Just as he had done the very first day he had taken Sasuke there, Itachi lead him through the hallways of the big place - except this time he held his hand instead of gripping him by the arm. Numbly Sasuke wondered what any of the other Akatsuki members would think if they saw the Uchiha brothers walking hand in hand like that. Obviously Deidara thought nothing of the unusual relationship, but Sasuke thought that might be just because the guy was crazy. It didn't matter anyway. What's done is done, as they say, and Sasuke's head was too full at the moment to really concentrate on the troubles that came with being obsessed with ones brother. He did take comfort from the feel of Itachi's hand in his, though. They'd always held hands when they were little too, but their fingers had never intertwined as they did now.

"Stay here Sasuke," Itachi muttered when they were in his room.

But Sasuke tightened the grip on his brother's hand just as Itachi was about to let go. "Where are you going?" he demanded.

"Sasuke...." Itachi's red eyed softened unexpectedly, and he abruptly took an intimidating step closer. Sasuke stepped back timidly, until Itachi had him pressed against the wall. He'd never seen an intensity like that in his brother's eyes before - not since the day Itachi had killed their family.... Something was wrong here. Something was really, really wrong. Sasuke... was afraid.

"Sasuke," Itachi breathed again, leaning in to crush their lips together. Sasuke had no choice but to give in - Itachi had his hands pinned against the wall above his head.

"What's wrong with you?" Sasuke demanded after a minute, breaking the kiss, but Itachi wouldn't have it. Finally, Sasuke bit him - _hard_.

Itachi released his grip, and when he backed off, he used the back of one hand to wipe some of the blood from his chin. Sasuke had broken the skin. Violence like that was usually the only way to get Itachi's attention - sometimes, not even that. "I have to go talk to Deidara," Itachi said as if nothing had happened. "I'll be back."

And he left the room, leaving Sasuke confused and speechless.

* * *

In the past eight years, Sasuke could not recall ever trembling quite like this. Probably because, after he'd gotten over the shock of his family's death all those years ago, trembling had just been something that he didn't _do._ Ah yes, Emotionally Numb Sasuke Uchiha - that was him. But he certainly didn't feel emotionally numb now. Not when his hands shook with the knowledge that Naruto was going to die (because of him, no less), and the fact that he knew Itachi was keeping something from him.

It was true, Sasuke could definitely sense something from his older brother - something that said that Sasuke couldn't see the whole picture. Itachi's presence practically screamed _I've got a deep dark secret~!_ And what did Itachi need to talk to Deidara about anyway? It probably wasn't any of Sasuke's business - actually, it was probably something that he truly did not need to know. But the usually emotionally deficit Uchiha was irritated at the sudden current of emotions coursing through his veins, and that his efforts to suppress all those feelings was turning his face red and making him shake all over was not helping the situation one bit.

Suddenly, irrationally angry, and curious on top of that - because Sasuke hated being left in the dark - he slipped out of the room to find his brother.

Anger guided his feet for a ways, and Sasuke made a few unconscious twists and turns before remembering that hey, he should probably be paying attention to where he was going. And it wasn't until a few minutes after _that_ when Sasuke once again became aware of how easy it would be for one to lose one's way in this big place. Could he even find his way back to Itachi's bedroom now if he wanted to? Well, that didn't matter he supposed. Not now that he was already lost. And he thought he _might_ be going the right way. Sasuke enjoyed puzzling things out most of the time - he'd set out to follow Itachi, and that's exactly what he was going to do.

Although, he wasn't quite sure what would happen if he accidentally ran into one of those other, creepy Akatsuki members. Sasuke stopped for a second, took a deep breath, and hurried on, as if he could leave his emotions behind simply by running from them again. For now, he would hope that the situation didn't come to that, because being face-to-face with a _serious_ hired assassin - unlike the hyperactive Deidara - would probably be very scary. As it was, Sasuke was already feeling everything that an Uchiha was _not_ supposed to feel - despite his efforts to keep them down. Suspense and guilt shook him most of all - not knowing what was going to happen next, and knowing that if Naruto _did_ die, Sasuke alone would be to blame. Anger threw him off too - at himself for being stupid, and childishly showing emotions now after he'd gotten so well at keeping them in check over the years.

Sasuke stopped dead at the very first hint of the sounds of voices. They were coming closer. Quickly, he ducked into an empty bedroom - praying that this particular room was not where the owners of the voices were headed - but after a moment, the sounds faded away, off into another hallway somewhere. Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief, though his hands shook a bit more now. Eventually he managed to stumble across the kitchen. It was one of the rooms that was easily recognizable (obviously), and Sasuke almost melted with the relief at seeing something familiar in this big place. And by the sounds of it, Itachi was in there, which was like a bonus for him.

Hoping that no one would pass by and catch him eavesdropping, Sasuke slid close to the entryway to the large kitchen, and strained his ears to make out the individual words of what they were saying. Yes, it was definitely Itachi, but Deidara sounded... unusually calm. "Is it because he's your brother, hn?" he heard the blonde's voice ask.

Silence from Itachi. And Deidara laughed, but it was not his usual, overly happy, almost ridiculous laugh. Actually, it kind was kind of creepy... a little bit. Not that Sasuke'd ever admit he'd be creeped out by someone like Deidara. "You know, if you don't do it soon Itachi, one of us will just have to do it for you. Personally, I wouldn't mind doing it myself. Sasuke is... very interesting. It's selfish of you to keep him all to yourself."

"It's none of your business," Itachi snapped, and his voice was different too. It was not the gentle tones he used with his brother -- not at all. There was nothing there to dull the sharp edge, the edge that Sasuke had always sensed was there but had never really thought about. Itachi sounded angry; strained.

"The boss isn't happy you know. You'd think that by now, you'd know how to get the job done, hn?"

Sasuke did not hear the sounds of Itachi's approaching footsteps, but really that was no surprise. Itachi had always had that dangerous silence about him - one wouldn't expect his steps to _have_ any sound to them. When Itachi stepped out of the kitchen and saw Sasuke standing there, a look of surprise momentarily filtered his features, and then he glared. Itachi grabbed him by the arm, almost roughly, and scowled the entire way back to the bedroom. Once inside, Sasuke turned to his brother, fully expecting to receive the full force of the Uchiha breaking point anger. His face half hidden behind his hair, Itachi shut the door with an ominous slowness before making his way over to his younger brother.

Sasuke had never seen Itachi so angry before. Yes, as a child, he had witnessed Itachi fighting with their father several times. And yes, he had seen the look on Itachi's face that after he committed the crime that changed both their lives forever. But the look on Itachi's face then had been one of dangerous accomplishment - not angry or furious, but as if he'd just done a job well.

That was not the case this time. Itachi was livid, and the one on the receiving end of that anger was Sasuke. Sasuke was usually not the target of his older brother's anger, but it definitely didn't help with his already frayed nerves.

Sasuke waited in silence, trying hard to build up his temper again. It was difficult to do though, even being who he was; it wasn't easy for Sasuke to bring heat into the situation when he felt so cold. "Itachi," he tried to demand, but it came out sounding more cautious than demanding. "What's-"

Sasuke's breath was suddenly stolen from his lungs when Itachi _slammed_ him against the wall. This wasn't like any time before - this _scared_ Sasuke, because Itachi (clan killy Itachi Uchiha) wasn't holding back this time. He wasn't going out of his way to be gentle at all. He actually seemed to be intent on _hurting_ Sasuke - and so far he was doing a good job of it, emotionally as well. Despite the fact that Sasuke had always tried to be as emotionless as possible, his brother was really managing to put his nerves through the blender. Sasuke felt like he could just snap, or fall apart at any moment, depending on the turn of the situation. "Are you stupid little brother?" Itachi hissed. "I told you not to the leave this room." He grabbed Sasuke by the shoulders again and pushed him roughly so that he stumbled back and fell onto the couch. Half sprawled out as he was, Sasuke must have looked vulnerable, because Itachi was on him in an instant, red eyes flashing dangerously, purple fingernails stroking Sasuke's cheek. Itachi looked... half inhuman. He was frightening, dangerous, and yet, lustful. Sasuke had never seen this side of his older brother before.

"If you had gotten caught, they would have _killed_ you," Itachi growled darkly in his ear.

"Why?" Sasuke demanded, still somewhat breathless from being so easily tossed about. "Is it because they know I know your secret?" Itachi closed his eyes, and shook his head in disdain. And that was when Sasuke asked the million dollar question. "Who are you here to kill Itachi?"

"...you."

* * *

At first... Sasuke wasn't sure he'd heard him right. Then, he wondered if Itachi might be lying. And _then_ he remembered that Itachi didn't lie. "Me?" he demanded, half incredulous - and yet, his voice came out a near whisper.

Itachi pressed himself even closer, as if he could make himself better understood by simple contact. One of his knees slid up between Sasuke's thighs, and Sasuke tried to hold back the short gasp that bubbled its way up to his throat. "Think about it little brother," Itachi whispered, his warm breath fanning Sasuke's face. Suddenly there was a flash of steel, and Sasuke could feel the sharpened point of a kunai pressing to his throat. "Naruto Uzumaki isn't the only one who knows too much."

Sasuke stared into his brother's dead eyes, and felt his own eyes widen in response. "You're serious aren't you?" Itachi didn't answer. Sasuke's older brother seemed locked in place, just a hand flick away from slicing open Sasuke's Adam's apple. Sasuke knew that if he moved at all, it was over. There was no getting away from Itachi. This was really it. He was going to _die_.

Sasuke's eyes slid away from Itachi's hardened face. He stared up at the ceiling, unseeing. "It's fitting, I guess," he muttered bitterly. Actually, the fact that his life was almost over... didn't bother him so much. "You killed our entire family. And my life is tied to yours anyway. If I can't be with you anymore, if you're just going to leave again.... It's fitting that you're the one who's going to kill me." He glanced at his brother again, but Itachi's expression could have been carved from stone. No reaction. "You planned it didn't you? Knowing you, you probably _volunteered_ to be the one to take me out."

Sasuke noticed Itachi swallow or clear his throat before he could reply. It was the tiniest sign of hesitance, but Sasuke understood. "I did," Itachi agreed.

And Sasuke smirked. "Didn't want any of your friends having their hands on me?" Again, Itachi said nothing, simply staring down at him with probing eyes. Slowly, so that Itachi would not think that it was out of some desperate attempt to escape or throw him off, Sasuke lifted his hand and placed it to the one that was gripping the kunai at his throat. The weapon was really digging into his skin now, nearly drawing blood. Itachi's hands did not shake.

Sasuke knew that Itachi would not hesitate to kill, even the younger brother whom he claimed to love. "Go on then," he said passively, closing his eyes. Sasuke waited. The point of the weapon pierced his skin then, and a tiny trickle of blood made its way down the side of his neck. How slowly was Itachi going to do this? Was he going to make him suffer then? Was he going to watch as the life struggled its way out of Sasuke's body...?

But the kunai held steady. It did not press anymore. All was quiet, but Sasuke kept his eyes dutifully closed. No matter how long Itachi took to hesitate or think it over, he would have to come to the conclusion that this was the only way. Surely if Itachi failed to carry out his duty to kill his brother, the Akatsuki would eat him alive for it. Sasuke's end was coming, he just had to wait for it.

A pain filled sort of sigh escaped Itachi's lips, and he leaned even closer to kiss his brother breathlessly. It was tender, tentative; a good-bye kiss, Sasuke thought. But that was when it hit him--this was his last chance to be with his brother. And as seemingly empty as Sasuke's life had become, he did not want to die. Right there, right then, if he was with Itachi he did not want to die.

Just as his brother was pulling away from him, Sasuke lifted up the slightest bit, not caring for the weapon at his throat, even as another stream of blood worked its way downward. He kissed Itachi fervently, desperately. And the kunai was discarded as Itachi kissed him back.

* * *

It was late again. Sasuke was exhausted. Already he was almost one hundred percent certain that he would _not_ be going to school the next day. Hours had passed since the last words of conversation had been spoken between him and his brother - they'd gotten too greatly distracted by things in which talking was the last thing on their minds. Pain racked Sasuke's body - he was sore all over, and if it hurt so much now, he hated to think what it would be like in the morning.

Unlike their last escapade of sexual excursions, this one had not included Itachi trying to be gentle at all. This time, his brother really hadn't held back. Sasuke had thought before that he'd _wanted _Itachi to be rough, and though his brother's slip in self-control had been quite satisfying at the time, now Sasuke nearly regretted it. He imagined that if he got up and looked into a mirror, his reflection would be a fright. That kunai at his throat earlier had only been the beginning of bloodshed when it came to brotherly bonding time with Itachi. As mentioned before, Sasuke's brother kept very good care of his nails. ...However, Sasuke _had_ been more determined to mark Itachi this time, and was quite pleased to see that he was not the only one sporting fresh bruises.

Sasuke and Itachi were not lying in each other's arms this time. This time, their intimacy had been more a thing of distraction and lust than something sprouting from love or romance at all. At times like this, they were both too prideful for holding one another. Itachi had just collapsed at the other side of the bed, sweating and panting heavily. Sasuke himself was also trying to catch his breath. It felt like their little exploits were done for the night, which was good, because Sasuke was too tired for it, and he didn't like the feeling of losing track of time besides. He felt more secure whenever he knew around what time it was - but maybe that was just the odd Uchiha OCD kicking in.

The two brothers lay on their sides like that for a while, not touching; simply looking at one another. "So." Sasuke grunted breathlessly. "Continuing with the conversation we were having earlier... why is it that you're supposed to kill me?"

Itachi didn't answer at first, but just continued to stare at him. He, too, was almost still panting too much for talking. "I'm... not sure," he said after a moment, sighing deeply in an attempt to even out his heavy breathing. "I was not a part of the decision making. When I learned that you had been sentenced, I went to our leader and asked that I be allowed to carry out the job personally."

"You have a 'leader'?" Sasuke asked, frowning at the idea. He probably should have guessed. A group of people like the Akatsuki could not keep themselves together on their own. It just... sounded so stupid the way Itachi had put it. _"Our leader,"_ he had said--like they were aliens or something.

"Of course we do," Itachi scoffed lightly, running fingers through his own slightly sweat matted hair. In times like this, Sasuke had to admit to himself... his brother was sexy. Not that he'd ever say something like that out loud though, and at the moment he was far too exhausted to really appreciate this observation anyway.

"I do... have a theory, about why the Akatsuki wants to kill you," his brother continued. "They are afraid of you, I think. That you'd come looking for me. They might think that you'd want revenge. You could become strong, and if you had ever learned about us on your own...." He paused for a short moment. "Actually Sasuke, there are several ways that you could be a threat to us, especially now, which is probably why they're all jabbing me in the back to get it over with.... Probably they would spare your life, if you agreed to join us. Which I still don't want you to do. I'm not sure they'd even let you in once they find out that you gave our secret away - even if it was only an accident." Itachi fell quiet again, lost in thought. Sasuke could very nearly hear the gears turning in his brother's head as Itachi thought through the situation from every angle.

Actually, now that Sasuke had a moment to think about it, Itachi seemed much calmer than he had before. Earlier he must have been tense from the stress. Idly Sasuke wondered if sex always calmed his brother down like this - or was it something else?

Quietly, after a moment, Sasuke asked, "Naruto... doesn't really have to die. Does he?"

Brought out of his musings, by Sasuke's question, Itachi just stared at him for a moment, not saying anything. Then, his eyes moved from Sasuke's face - almost guiltily, but he didn't even bother feigning sympathy. Of course, Itachi didn't care if Naruto died. The boy had no part in his life. Of course. "It is inevitable now," he said simply, and sighed as he pulled the black bed sheet up to his waist. "But... I'm not going to let _you_ die, little brother. I've decided. I will do everything I can to keep you safe, even if it means turning you into a murderer like me. Maybe it's selfishness, but I want you for myself, and I want you alive."

Sasuke pressed his face close to the pillow, cringing the slightest bit as a few of his new injuries brushed against the fabric. "What if you can't keep me safe?" he inquired, honestly curious.

Itachi's red eyes softened somewhat. "Then I will take comfort in knowing that if you die, my own death will come shortly after. I _won't_ survive without you Sasuke."

"Now you're just being overdramatic," Sasuke scoffed. Really, how could his brother just come off with things like that - saying them so simply, as if such admissions were part of every normal conversation?

Itachi shrugged indifferently. "At least I'm honest." Sasuke snorted at that. Suddenly his brother reached out, and stroked one of Sasuke's bloody cheeks. Yes, Itachi's nails had grazed him even there. Not to mention the fact that Itachi had bitten his lip hard in return for Sasuke doing so to him earlier. "I am sorry for hurting you."

Sasuke pulled his face away from his brother's fingers. "No you're not," he retorted. "You enjoyed every minute of it. Besides- I wanted it."

Itachi smirked, and suddenly grabbed Sasuke by one shoulder and pulled him close. He was surprisingly gentle with him, only playing at being rough now. "You admit that you like this strange relationship of ours," he commented, nuzzling Sasuke's jaw line. Yep. Itachi was done with talking about the more serious things now. Sasuke's brother could be surprisingly pervy when he wanted to be - a trait that one wouldn't expect from the older, steely Uchiha.

"I did not," Sasuke protested with a weak sigh. His brother was really warm, which made his aching muscles relax and realize exactly how tired he was now. Sasuke was really too drained of the energy to argue at the moment anyway.

"Sleep brother," Itachi said in his ear. "Rest. Relax, while you still have the freedom to do so." And half cradled in his older brother's arms, Sasuke drifted to sound of Itachi's rough, low voice.

* * *

_**A/N: **__Ah the brotherly love. Uchihas show their affection for one another in such violent ways, wouldn't you agree? Honestly, I don't think Sasuke or Itachi ether one knows what they're really feeling._


	8. Damn Uzumaki

_**A/N: **Please do not kill me for the contents of this chapter, I beg you.... _

_.:Damn_Uzumaki:._

* * *

The first thing that Naruto felt upon Sasuke's arrival back home was an immense sense of heavy relief. Mostly it was because A) Naruto had been lingering outside the front of Sasuke's empty apartment for hours now, and B) Naruto knew that Sasuke had been running around out god-knows-where with his family-killing brother Itachi since after school the day before. And so, Naruto watched in slight surprise as the car from before appeared down the road, slowed, and came to a stop just a few feet away from him. Sasuke was in the front seat, and Naruto inwardly rejoiced at seeing that his friend/rival was safe.

The relief was short lived, however, and Naruto gasped audibly as Sasuke stepped out of the car. The guy looked like he'd been mauled by a large angry animal. He even had the decency to blush the tiniest bit whenever Naruto saw him. There was not a patch of skin on him that did not look like it was bruised, scratched, or bitten. Sasuke's pale self was painted all purples and blues, with harsh streaks of angry red and brown where nails had pierced the skin. "Sasuke?" Naruto took an unconscious, hesitant step forward, one hand half-extended toward the other boy. Then the person in the driver's seat behind Sasuke caught his attention.

Itachi Uchiha was staring coldly, directly at him, and Naruto cringed away from that look. The man's eyes were a bright, glaring red, and he looked at Naruto with a dangerous dark expression as Sasuke shut the passenger door behind him. The car drove away after a short hesitant second, and Sasuke glanced to the side to watch it go. Personally, Naruto thought his lungs had stopped pumping.

"Sasuke..." he said again after a minute.

"What are you doing here Naruto?" Sasuke demanded bluntly, pulling a house key out of his pocket. He shoved past Naruto to unlock the door.

Naruto couldn't find the words to reply at first. His throat had tightened up, and for a moment he couldn't find the ability to speak. "Uh... I was worried. You just took off with... I mean, yesterday...." Probably, he wasn't making any sense.

The door to the apartment was open now, and Sasuke turned to him expectantly with blank eyes, but Naruto wasn't sure what the other guy wanted. Sasuke scoffed lightly, and stuck his hands in his pockets. "You are coming in right?"

Naruto was honestly surprised. He'd never thought he'd be permitted to stand outside the door, much less actually invited in. Nevertheless, he followed Sasuke in without complaint, and as they walked inside together, Sasuke's slight awkward body movements suggested that he was sporting more sores in places that Naruto wasn't aware of.

"You look awful," Naruto said with all the blunt aptitude of a teenage boy. Inside Sasuke's apartment was cool and dark and refreshing. The sunlight outside had been hurting Naruto's eyes for a little while. He'd actually first shown up at Sasuke's apartment the night before, only to find that Sasuke hadn't returned home yet. Naruto had then decided that he'd come back in the morning to meet Sasuke before school, and if he still wasn't there, Naruto would simply play hooky and wait for him. And that's exactly what he'd done.

It had been 2:30 in the afternoon by the time that Sasuke had finally gotten home.

"Thanks," Sasuke replied somewhat bitterly to Naruto's previous statement. He pursed his lips as he took in the worried expression in Naruto's blue eyes, and then promptly began kicking off his shoes at the door. "It looks a lot worse than it is," he said after a minute. "I just need to take a shower. A lot of it's dry blood... that's all." He turned in a way so that Naruto couldn't see his face.

_That's all...?_ Naruto wondered. _Jeez, Sasuke. _"Sasuke... a-are you okay?" Naruto reached out to place a hand on the stoic Uchiha's shoulder - he wasn't quite sure why; maybe he just wanted Sasuke to face him again - but the other boy cringed under his light touch as if it hurt. Well, there was the answer to Naruto's question anyway. Physically at least, Sasuke was most definitely _not _okay. "Did Itachi do this to you? Did he...." Naruto bit his tongue to hold back the words that he really wanted to say. He _wanted _to ask if Itachi had taken advantage of him - which was more than likely, all things considered.

"Itachi's got nothing to do with it," Sasuke muttered, and headed for the bathroom. After a minute, Naruto heard the sounds of the shower come on.

With a little sigh, Naruto sat himself at the couch to think. Sasuke's apartment was not as clean as one might expect it to be. Naruto had always thought of him as a clean freak, but looking around now it was definite that that was not the case. Sasuke was a perfectionist, but maybe not a clean freak.

Anyway it was obvious that Sasuke was lying. _"Nothing to do with it?" _Itachi had everything to do with it. Or at least, that was how it looked from where Naruto was standing. And what the hell was Sasuke doing associating with his psychopathic brother anyway? It was not the first time that Naruto had wondered that, but try as he might he could still never come up with a very satisfactory answer. Eventually maybe he'd actually get around to _asking _Sasuke, but there was no clear assurance that Sasuke would answer. He usually liked to avoid having actual conversations with Naruto if he could help it - which was another reason why it was so strange that Sasuke'd let him inside the apartment.

Sasuke had changed recently - at least that was evident enough. No, it wasn't as if Sasuke disliked Naruto _less _now - he was just... calmer somehow. Less angry at the world in general. Probably it had something to do with Itachi. Meeting up with his brother again after all those years was bound to have some kind of emotional effect on Sasuke - even if he was the prince of unfeeling.

Sasuke was taking an unusually long time for just a shower. Or maybe that was just Naruto's impatience finally kicking in. Either way, Naruto was getting tired of waiting. He was already pretty worn out from standing in the sun waiting for him all day, and his partly sweaty clothes were rather uncomfortable. Idly he wondered if Sasuke might let him have a shower too. It was a laughable thought. If he asked, Sasuke would no doubt boot him out the door. It wasn't like Sasuke was going to let him stay at the apartment for very long.

With a little sigh, Naruto got up and peeled his shirt off. Like a real _gentlemen_, he folded it all up and set the damp cloth on the arm of the couch. He wouldn't let himself forget to put it back on before Sasuke got out of the bathroom. It wasn't like he'd be _uncomfortable _shirtless around Sasuke or anything. Of course not.

Half absentmindedly, Naruto made a few rounds inside the apartment. Aside from the living room, there was only a tiny kitchen, the bathroom, and a shut door that Naruto assumed Sasuke's bedroom was hiding behind. Naruto stood near that door, listening to the sounds of the shower water running in the bathroom next to it. He rocked back and fourth on his feet for a minute, deliberating on whether or not Sasuke would consider it an invasion of privacy if Naruto had a look around inside. Finally, curiosity won over, and Naruto reached toward the doorknob tentatively.

Like the living room, Sasuke's bedroom was not perfectly in order. There were clothes and things scattered about the floor, and the bed looked comfortably slept in - though Naruto had to wonder when it had last been that Sasuke had actually stayed the night in his own apartment. Surely Itachi wasn't taking up that much of his time. Maybe.

Reacting on impulse, Naruto crossed the room and slid stomach first onto the bed. It was a Naruto sort of thing. He was not a lazy guy most of the time - except for when it came to things like homework - but it was difficult for him to resist a bed that looked soft and warm. Which was why his own bed at home was uncomfortable most of the time. If he'd had a bed with a soft mattress he'd probably never go to school - or get out of bed at all, really.

Like a cat, he stretched lethargically, the tips of his fingers brushing against the wall, and kicked his shoes off into the floor - (he'd forgotten to take them off at the door like Sasuke had). Some of the bones in his back popped, and he sighed deeply in contentment as several tense muscles in his body relaxed. He wouldn't fall asleep here. Not in Sasuke's bed. Definitely not. He'd get up and go back to the living room in just a minute.

Naruto sighed again - heavily this time - as he lost himself in thought. So many worries he had for Sasuke. First the changed attitude, his battered appearance, and Itachi's sudden involvement in his life again. And if Sasuke was going along with his brother out of actual free will - which Naruto still hadn't puzzled out - then how the hell could he be so _stupid_? Why the hell would Sasuke spend so much of his time with his family-killing brother - _willingly_? Didn't he realize that Itachi would kill him?

Because Naruto was sure that that was exactly what was going to happen. There was no way he could imagine that scary Itachi Uchiha had anything other than ill intent for his younger brother. And the condition of Sasuke's body this day was conclusive evidence toward that theory.

What was Naruto going to do? He really cared about Sasuke - whether the Uchiha himself believed it or not. He didn't want to see Sasuke hurt anymore - physically or otherwise. And hadn't Itachi already put him through enough for one lifetime? Naruto was one of the few people who knew--one of the few who saw how delicate Sasuke really was. Though Naruto would probably get his ass kicked if he ever said something about it out loud - and not just by Sasuke, either. But really, Sasuke....

Sasuke wasn't half as strong as he appeared. All his glares and steely silences, the distance he put between himself and any living human being... it was all out of fear. Sasuke was just running away, time and time again - it was a survival instinct after all; a way to protect himself from the things he thought would hurt him the most. And Naruto didn't think Sasuke himself realized that yet. He didn't think that Sasuke understood the real reason why he was so "annoyed" by other people.

He acted tough, but really, Sasuke could be so easily broken apart... and if that was going to happen, Itachi was just the guy to do it. That's what worried Naruto most about the situation. Whether or not Itachi physically harmed his brother - which, he already had - he would be the death of Sasuke one way or the other. Because Sasuke was not an emotional person. If Itachi hurt him, if Itachi did something to devastate him again, Naruto didn't think that Sasuke'd be able to handle it this time around. An emotional overload was the last thing that Sasuke Uchiha knew how to deal with. If Itachi did such things to him, even if that was all that he did to him, there was no way Sasuke would be able to get back up on his feet.

But Naruto thought, it was alright that Sasuke was weak. It was perfectly okay if he continued to run away from things. Naruto would run with him if he could. Sasuke's strength and weaknesses, his fragility, it was all part of everything that Naruto liked about him.

Naruto wasn't even aware that he was beginning to drift by the time that he finally fell asleep.

* * *

Upon realizing that Naruto was not in the living room where he should be - although his shirt was there, strangely enough - Sasuke felt a wave of irritation roll over him. If he were not so worried that the moment he let the blonde guy out of his sight, Itachi (or one of the other Akatsuki members) was going to find and kill him, he wouldn't have even let the dobe in at all. And this was his just reward for that. Naruto was in his _bedroom_. Ugh.

Sasuke sighed as he stood at his own bedside, staring down at the happily sleeping boy lying there. Sasuke rubbed his towel against his wetted hair again, not caring that it was disheveled. He had bigger problems than his hair to deal with at the moment, No. 1 on the list being annoying Naruto Uzumaki, who's name happened to be at the top of Itachi's list of people who needed to die. How troublesome.

Sasuke poked the blonde dobe's forehead once. "Hey," he called bluntly. He then continued by smacking - a few times - the single exposed leg that was tangled up in Sasuke's blankets. "Hey. You're in my bed." He wanted to yell at him to get the hell up, but seeing as the last thing he wanted at the moment was for Naruto to be killed on his account, Sasuke couldn't really bring himself to be especially mean to the dobe today.

So far, it was proving to be a feat that was difficult to undertake.

The only response Naruto had for Sasuke's light poking and smacking was that he rolled over and grinned foolishly in his sleep. Sasuke lowered his head in defeat. When Naruto was out he was _really_ out. Sasuke knew from experience. Once, Naruto had slept an entire school day in one classroom seat, because none of his teachers or schoolmates could get him to wake. They'd let him sleep there for the entire school day, which had been inconvenient enough. When he'd finally woken, Naruto had been suspended for a day or two - so that he could "catch up on his sleeping," if Sasuke remembered correctly. Although, he specifically remembered Naruto falling asleep in class again the very next time that he was back in school.

So Sasuke stood there, deliberating upon his options. He _could_ rudely wake Naruto up, which would no doubt turn into an argument, which in turn would inevitably lead to the blonde boy _leaving_. Or Sasuke could just ignore the fact that Naruto was in his bed asleep, and go about his merry way. Then again, what would Sasuke do all day? He hadn't gone to school, and there was neither anything in his apartment nor out in town to really _do_. Under normal circumstances, he might have just gone to sleep - because sleep was always the most effective cure for boredom, and Sasuke usually enjoyed the silence of his apartment. He might not look like the type for naps, but actually Sasuke did spend much of his time sleeping. Or at least, he had before he'd Itachi'd showed up again.

Sasuke supposed that he could go out for a bit and come back - would Itachi really kill Naruto if he saw the guy sleeping there in his bed? Then again, Naruto was just the type that would be easily enough tricked outside the apartment and probably into some remote alleyway by someone like Itachi. Damn Naruto Uzumaki and his inability to protect himself whatsoever. So leaving the apartment was out, unless Naruto did so first.

This was turning to be much more difficult than Sasuke had expected.

When he'd arrived at his apartment to find Naruto waiting for him there, at the time Sasuke had thought that that at least saved him the trouble of having to find him before Itachi did. So yes, he'd let him in, because surely if Sasuke kept an eye on him, there would be no opportunity for Itachi or the Akatsuki to kill him. Sasuke wondered if Itachi had already told the other guys that Naruto even knew.

Annoyed to the greatest extent just short of spontaneously combusting, Sasuke gave an annoyed scoff, and said, "Whatever," out loud for no one but the sleeping boy to hear. With that, he jerked as much of the blankets from Naruto's tangled grasp as he could, and lay down on the bed himself, scooting as far away from the other guy as possible.

* * *

It was a few hours later (the sun was still burning nicely, but with a much more orange glow to it by now) when Sasuke awoke rather abruptly, disturbed at the arms around him which were _not _Itachi's. At first, he'd lost himself in his sleep, thinking that it _was _his brother he was lying with - but then Sasuke's brain had registered that Itachi neither _snores_, nor does he bury his nose foolishly into the back of Sasuke's hair.

With an exclamation of surprise, Sasuke rolled out of bed and onto the floor with a loud "oof!"

Once Sasuke recovered from the unpleasant awakening, he sat up to glare unmercifully at the form of Naruto, who was still sleeping happily away. Sasuke growled under his breath. He _hated _being woken up - especially by annoying blonde guys, which is what seemed to be happening quite often lately. "Naruto!" he barked loudly, and finally the other guy woke up. Naruto sat straight up in bed, a bit of drool running down his chin and his hair all a mess. "Eh?" he said sleepily, his eyes hazed over as he looked about the room. It took a moment, but he finally turned to Sasuke, and then Naruto blinked, and his eyes focus. "Sasuke...? What are you doin' in the floor?"

Sasuke felt one of his eyebrows twitch in response. At times like this, he really had to resist the urge to just kill Naruto himself - at least it would save Itachi the trouble. "Wipe that slobber off your mouth and get out of my bed, _dobe_." Really, Sasuke said it as _politely _as he could.

"Oi, there's no need to be rude," Naruto remarked as he promptly wiped off his lips and began untangling himself from the sheets. After a moment, he looked down at himself and seemed embarrassed by the fact that he didn't have a shirt on. Then, he grinned nervously up at Sasuke, who was now standing and towering angrily over him. "Sorry 'bout that. Didn't mean to fall asleep. Hey, you do look a lot better now. 'Cept your hair's all messed up. Did you take a nap too Sasuke?"

Ugh. Too much talking. With a sigh, which would be Naruto's only reply, Sasuke made his way over to the bathroom and combed his fingers through his hair to calm some of the disarray. Behind him in the living room, he caught a glimpse of Naruto moving over to the couch to put his shirt on. "I'm starving," the blonde guy commented, his voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt over his face. "Haven't eaten anything today."

"Well, who's fault is that?" Sasuke muttered absently. He _really _didn't want to have to be around Naruto this much. Honestly, Sasuke couldn't imagine sticking by his side forever. It was a thought that sent shivers of horror running up his spine - it was definitely an unpleasant scenario.

However, at the mention of food, Sasuke's own stomach gave a particularly loud grumble, to which he glared angrily. It just so happened that Naruto stepped up to his side at that moment, and grinned, poking him playfully. "Looks like Sasuke's hungry too. Let's go get ramen."

Sasuke turned his scowl to the dobe's reflection. "Oh how did I not see _that _one coming?" he muttered sarcastically. Naruto just laughed at him.

Sasuke could feel Naruto's eyes on him as he put his shoes on at the door. Yes, they were actually going to go eat ramen again, _dammit_. Mainly for the fact that Sasuke needed to go grocery shopping soon, because he didn't have much to choose from in his kitchen right now, and even if he had, he wasn't really in the mood for _cooking_. And Naruto's staring was getting on his nerves.

Probably the blonde boy was looking at the marks again - the ones that Itachi had left on him. As much as he'd scrubbed, Sasuke wasn't quite able to get all the blood off - it'd really caked on to some parts of his body. Sasuke should have guessed that Itachi, being who he was, would be so violent in bed. Itachi was like a vampire or something - he'd found it amusing to _bite _and _break the skin _on several various places of Sasuke's soft body. The more tender places where he'd bitten were _quite_ uncomfortable.

"Hey, Sasuke?" As he'd suspected, Naruto wanted to _talk _about it. Sasuke on the other hand... Sasuke didn't want to talk about it. It was embarrassing enough to even think about - because it showed that yes, Sasuke did have human urges, just like the rest of the people on the damn planet. He hated it. He didn't _want _to lust after _anything _- much less his own brother. Too late now though. Whenever he and Itachi were together like that... Sasuke just kind of lost who he'd been for the past eight years, and changed into some guy that he'd never known before.

"What, dobe?" he asked bluntly.

Pause. "Mmmm...." Sasuke glanced at him. Naruto seemed to be holding something back, something that he wanted to say but didn't want to say at the same time.

"Out with it," Sasuke demanded.

Naruto's blue eyes took on a shade of guilt. "I was just.. wondering if you were going to be okay."

Sasuke scoffed lightly, and looked away. Truth of it was, even he didn't know if he was going to be okay - no matter how much Itachi insisted that he was going to assure his safety. "Why are you so worried about it?" he muttered, opening up the door.

Sasuke was only able to catch one wide eyed glimpse of Itachi's car parked across the street just before Naruto took his face in his hands. That part confused him a bit. "I guess it's because I really like you, Sasuke," Naruto said with a little smile.

Kissing Naruto was definitely a different experience from kissing Itachi. Naruto was _warm_ - and such warmth radiated from him into Sasuke, spreading from their linked lips down to his very fingertips and toes. And Naruto was soft, but not in a way that his body was soft. (Actually, the blonde guy was made up of actual muscle, it seemed.) It felt like Sasuke was hugging a teddy bear though... or something like that. Naruto was just so... difficult _not _to hug, irresistible in a way that Sasuke had never encountered before when it came to his brother.

Sasuke's body melted against Naruto like butter. It was icy Uchiha vs. the sunshiny Kyuubi boy. Naruto's arms did not hold him with the intent of banging him, like Itachi's always seemed to. For the first time Sasuke felt like he was really being caressed - though he was not so much smaller than Naruto, he felt so completely engulfed by him. He felt like he was sinking into Naruto, as if he fit perfectly right there.

It was... a few minutes before Sasuke's senses came to him. This was _Naruto _he was kissing - and the front door was still open, and Itachi was right across the street. It was kind of embarrassing though, because by the time he remembered all these things, Sasuke was already clinging to Naruto desperately, with fingers buried deeply in that blonde hair and his other arm snaked around Naruto's shoulders. In an unconscious sort of gesture, Sasuke was pressing himself as close to Naruto as their bodies would allow. He could only imagine how difficult it was going to be to explain that off to both Naruto _and_ Itachi later. Oh boy.

Finally, Sasuke forced he and Naruto apart, wrenching himself out of the other guy's grasp and taking a few steps back just in case the urge came over him to kiss him again. He'd also managed to fling Naruto a few feet away, and the dobe at first had an expression of complete surprise on his face. Without hesitation, and careful not to look Itachi's way, Sasuke took his sudden wild frustration out on the front door by slamming it as hard as he could. "What the _hell_?" he demanded of Naruto.

The blonde boy was rubbing his lips slightly, and he grinned slowly at first, then widely as Sasuke rounded on him. Naruto let out a little laugh that he couldn't seem to hold back. "Sorry," he said, sighing a little. He was still smiling though. "Guess I shouldn't be laughing."

Sasuke stared at him incredulously. Naruto was actually _enjoying _himself. So, he ended up spluttering out the first thing that came to mind: "Itachi's going to _kill_ you!"

Naruto paused in surprise at that, and then shrugged oh-so-casually. "Does he get jealous easily or something? He doesn't have to know."

Sasuke _wanted_ to tell him that Itachi had probably already seen, but he was so dubious of the other boy's easy attitude that he couldn't bring up the right words to say.

"I gotta say it Sasuke. That was a _hell _of a kiss. I didn't think you'd actually--"

"Shut up," Sasuke interrupted curtly.

Ugh. So much ugh. There was definitely no way that he'd be able to convince Itachi to keep from killing Naruto now. And what the hell was Itachi doing out there anyway? Keeping an eye on him? Waiting for Naruto to leave so that he could kill him? Making sure that none of the others came by to kill Sasuke in his absence?

Pursing his lips slightly, Sasuke made his way over to the couch and sat, taking up his _I'm thinking right now, don't bother me _posture - elbows on his knees and hands folded in front of his face. "Okay," he said diplomatically after a moment. He could feel Naruto's eyes watching him curiously, but Sasuke opted to ignore. "So I'm at a loss of what to do now." _I could go out and talk to him_, he thought, but then rejected the idea. Too awkward. Too ick. Sasuke wasn't ready for that particular conversation just yet.

Sasuke's mind raced as everything just hit him all at once. The Akatsuki wanted him dead, Itachi was bent on killing Naruto - especially now, probably - and on top of all that, Sasuke was in love with his brother, and Naruto was... in love with _him_? Wait. What? When in the world had Naruto developed feelings for him? He was still dating Sakura wasn't he? With the turn of his head, Sasuke just stared up at the other guy in half-confusion, half-disbelief. This story was spinning out like a friggin Soap Opera that Sakura would watch or something.

* * *

Itachi stared at the now closed door of Sasuke's apartment in red-eyed anger. He could feel it - the deep slash of jealousy in his gut, the urge to just run over there and take Sasuke for himself. Itachi was _seeing_ red now - the want for blood. At first, the only line of thoughts in his head was this - Naruto Uzumaki had kissed Sasuke, Sasuke had kissed him back, and Itachi had been right there to see the whole occurrence. He was going to kill Naruto, kidnap Sasuke, and that was that.

But now that his breathing was slowing a bit, and his irrational anger was beginning to subside the tiniest bit, Itachi knew that Sasuke would not want that. Probably. The fact that Sasuke had shut the front door a minute ago had really been the only thing that had made Itachi pause in rushing over there and....

Suddenly Itachi felt very exposed. It was dangerous for him to be in plain sight in the middle of Konoha like this. Especially hanging around Sasuke's apartment. More than likely someone would recognize him. And so, Itachi retreated back inside the car. His hands gripped the steering wheel intensely as he tried to shake the spots of red from his vision. It was scary whenever he got like this, frightening even to himself. Sometimes the urges that came over him were difficult to hold back.

Itachi's breathing was still coming out too quickly, still uneven. It was hard to concentrate with red-hot jealousy tugging mercilessly at the edges of his chest. First of all, he knew he couldn't let Sasuke see him like this. Second of all, it was not his job to kill Naruto Uzumaki. The Akatsuki had decided on it long ago, and that was _Sasori's_ job. After all, once they'd learned of the nine-tailed fox's existence, it's captivity within the body of a boy, they'd known that they'd have to have that kind of power for themselves. They'd take the Kyuubi, and kill the Uzumaki kid. He was of no importance anyway.

The greatest inconveniences that Itachi was facing now were that 1) Naruto Uzumaki seemed to be close to Sasuke, and more than likely Sasuke would frown upon having his friend killed. (On the other hand, Sasuke'd said he probably wouldn't mind Itachi taking out his therapists if he wanted to - the memory made Itachi want to smile, and calmed him down a bit.)

And 2) Itachi could most definitely not run away with Sasuke - however much he wanted to. There was no way that they would be able stay hidden together like that. They would have the police on their backs, because Itachi was already a wanted killer, and then the Akatsuki, who did not allow any of it's members out (alive), and then also would be the added bonus of the people who would be looking for Sasuke. He was quite popular in Konoha, it appeared - even had his own little group of fangirls - and if he suddenly disappeared Sasuke would be quickly missed by fans, friends, teachers, and therapists alike. No, running away was definitely out.

What he needed was to stay calm. Even if there was no telling what Naruto was in there doing to Sasuke right now. The sudden thought made Itachi's anger flare up with a vengeance. Gah, no. No, no. He had to stay calm.

And so it was that, while Sasuke was in his apartment living room having a decidedly awkward conversation with Naruto, Itachi was out in his car half-hyperventilating and trying hard not to go all murderous and such.

* * *

_**A/N: **A little off topic from what just happened in the story, but jeez, I don't think I've ever talked about sex as much as I have in this. To tell the truth, I dislike talking about it in my stories, even if it does end up happening. I am not a writer of lemons - I despise the things, because mostly, they are very poorly written, and have very little story to them at all. _

_It seems somewhat necessary to talk about the sex here though, because I try to be thorough with details when I write, and Sasuke's sexual relationship with his brother happens to be a large chunk of the story anyway. Don't you think? _

_Alright, enough of my prattle. On to the next chapter.... _

* * *


	9. Coffee for Stress and Hugs for Worrying

_**A/N: **My reviewers are just so niiiiiicee~ to me..._

_you're all just so very niiicce~ T^T_

.:Coffee_for_Stress_and_Hugs_for_Worrying:.

* * *

"Sasuke," Itachi said, darkly disapproving.

"I only drink it when I'm stressed," Sasuke chided lightly as he poured himself another cup.

Itachi, being one of the few who knew of Sasuke's weakness when it came to caffeine, did not like the fact that this was Sasuke's third cup of coffee in the day. What Itachi didn't know was that Sasuke had been downing and pouring more of it whenever his brother wasn't looking. And so it was that Itachi Uchiha was in Sasuke's apartment, being somewhat strangely overprotective, while Sasuke himself was trying not to break apart into a complete mental meltdown, and Naruto silently watching the whole ordeal from the couch in the living room.

How the hell did this happen you ask? Well, an hour had passed since the kissing incident. Naruto had been trying to describe to Sasuke how he and Sakura had only been dating as a sort of cover-up thing (for her as well as him) during which, at one point in the story, Sasuke had blurted, "Sakura knows you're gay?" Yes, Sakura did know that Naruto was gay, or bisexual, or whatever the hell it was he was. However, Sakura of course had never known that Naruto's crush was the very same guy whom she was obsessed with. If she had known it, she probably would have seen Naruto as a rival, rather than just finding the situation funny.

So anyway, as time had passed, Sasuke had put on a pot of coffee, and Itachi, who was still out in his car, had ever so slowly become increasingly impatient and anxious as to know what was going on inside. Eventually, he'd shown up right at the front door. Sasuke had let him in on the terms that he promised he wouldn't kill Naruto. Naruto himself at the time, who still had had no idea that Itachi had been just outside waiting the entire time, had been scared shitless seeing the murderous older Uchiha sibling at the door.

Itachi had not been among them for very long so far, and he rarely looked Naruto's way - although, when he did, it was all silent glares that made Naruto want to crawl up into a tiny space and hide. Naruto himself had not uttered a single word since Sasuke's brother had come in. Actually, he was really rather confused. Itachi was acting like... such a worried, older brother. But he _was _the one who'd hurt Sasuke right? So why was he acting so... weirdly nice? It was a little frightening to watch.

Naruto stared, curious, as Itachi reached over to gently take the cup of brown steaming liquid from Sasuke's hand. With a small sound of protest, Sasuke snatched it back, slopping some of it's contents onto the floor. "You know what it does to you," Itachi said warningly.

"Tch. I'm not a child anymore. I can handle it."

Had Naruto not been so mind-blown, he probably would have been somewhat amused. What did coffee do to Sasuke? Naruto had never known him to like anything with any kind of caffeine or sugary substance to it. Sasuke despised candy, and he never touched soda. Once, Naruto had nearly tricked him into taking a swig of one of Shikamaru Nara's energy drinks, but good for Sasuke that one of his fangirls had been there to save him just in time. It hadn't been with the intent to hurt or embarrass Sasuke at all - hell Naruto didn't even know something like that could hurt or embarrass him - he'd just wanted to see what Sasuke's reaction would be, since Naruto himself thought that energy drinks were nasty.

Sasuke took another sip of his coffee, looking quite stressed to his limit really, and his eyes traveled up to where Naruto sat watching from over the back of the couch. Following his younger brother's gaze, Itachi looked over at him as well, and _his _eyes glittered crimson. Naruto sank a little lower into the couch.

"Don't be mean," Sasuke snapped.

"I wasn't," Itachi said innocently, keeping a perfectly straight face. Sasuke made a noncommittal sound that clearly said he didn't believe him.

As it was, the little group had so far not gotten around to talking about anything serious. Conversation was low when it came to these three today - the biggest reason being that Naruto was keeping quite for once, but that was because of Itachi's presence.

"Sasuke," Itachi said suddenly, and there was a note of reproach in his voice. Naruto looked up again to see what was up, only to find that Sasuke's hands were shaking. The coffee that he was holding was very nearly spilling over again, and there was a frustrated kind of expression on the younger Uchiha's face. "I-I'm fine," he protested.

And Naruto watched in unadulterated shock as Itachi gently put his arms around his younger brother, and led him into the living room. Once there, they stopped directly in front of the couch. "Move," Itachi said, glaring down at him. Naruto scrambled up from his seat, and Sasuke scowled slightly as Itachi sat him down. Then Itachi took the coffee out of Sasuke's now violently shaking hands, and the younger Uchiha scowled even harder, if such a thing was possible. Obviously he was ticked off at 1) Itachi being needlessly rude to Naruto and 2) Itachi taking his coffee from him. And just as obviously, Itachi didn't care if he pissed Sasuke off.

"Itachi," Sasuke hissed. "G-give me my damn drink." Whoa. That was unusual. Naruto had never heard Sasuke stutter before. Perhaps _this _was what coffee did to him...? So. Sasuke was easily affected by caffeine then? Naruto smiled the slightest bit. It was... a little funny. No one would imagine Sasuke Uchiha having a fault as simple as that.

"You've had more than enough," Itachi replied, and he sounded like he was chastising a small child. Naruto didn't like it. Overall, he was confused about the way that Itachi was acting with Sasuke - all Naruto really knew about it was that he definitely didn't like it. Maybe it was just him, but Itachi seemed more impending than protective. As gentle as his words were, as easily as he handled Sasuke, it felt like it was mixed in with just a touch of menace. Because Itachi's presence was very intimidating. His silence, his prompt way of doing things, the red eyes that seemed to see everything... Itachi was a very scary guy.

Said Uchiha was crouching onto the floor next to the couch now; he had left Sasuke's side for a moment to pour the coffee (from the cup as well as the pot) out into the sink. He took Sasuke's shaking hands into his own slightly larger ones, and held them together briefly. "I have to leave. Soon," he said. Sasuke nodded in seeming understanding, though Naruto noticed his legs were beginning to shake now as well. "I have... more work to do."

"Work?" Sasuke asked bluntly, and his eyes became slightly confused. The shaking... looked like it was almost causing him pain. His brow was creased in frustration.

Itachi inclined his head a little. "I have other priorities too Sasuke."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Alright," he said simply. He seemed to want to say something else, but when he opened his mouth, his teeth began to chatter, so he stayed silent.

"You want me to go on and leave, don't you?" Itachi said, sounding somewhat sad. Sasuke just stared up at him with defiant eyes, for which Itachi must have taken as a yes. "Alright then," he said. And then Itachi stood, and he cast Naruto a meaningful glance before deliberately leaning down and placing his lips roughly against Sasuke's. For a moment, Naruto thought that he was going to be sick. He reached out nearly to stop them in surprise, but it wasn't an act born out of jealousy. It just wasn't right. It wasn't right for the cold Itachi Uchiha to act toward Sasuke as if he loved him so much. He was just playing with him. It was so sickening... and sad.

Sasuke was blushing a little by the time that Itachi was crossing the room and out the door - it was finally beginning to get dark out. All was silence for a moment in the apartment, as Naruto stood there and tried to hold down the anger he felt rising to his throat. Sasuke looked over at him once, and then bowed his head to hide his eyes behind his hair. As if it'd been some sort of cue Naruto had been waiting for, he stepped over to sit next to Sasuke on the couch.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked softly - after all, there were so many things about Sasuke that could be _not_ alright at the moment. Naruto wanted to tell him so many things. He wanted to tell him that he was making a _huge _mistake by letting Itachi into his life like this. He wanted to tell him that Itachi was going to hurt him, that he should stay away from him. But Sasuke looked like he was dealing with enough at the moment, so Naruto stayed silent about it.

Sasuke grimaced. "I'm fine," he said curtly, bowing his head and hiding his fingers in his hair. "I just have to wait for the caffeine t-to... get out of my system...."

"I never knew it had this kind of effect on you." Naruto couldn't hold down the tiny smile.

"Sh-shut up."

And so it was that Naruto ended up staying the night at Sasuke's apartment with him. He'd taken it upon himself to at least stay until Sasuke's shaking stopped, but however long he sat by Sasuke's side and tried to help calm him down, the raven haired boy's shuddering only seemed to grow worse. An hour after Itachi's departure, and Sasuke's entire body was trembling forcefully. Sasuke was beginning to make little sounds of discomfort under his breath. It... really worried Naruto, though Sasuke _tried_ to snap at him that the shaking was only a reaction brought about by so much caffeine - "tried" being the keyword there, seeing as it was nearly impossible for Sasuke to speak beyond just one or two simple words. And somewhere along the line they had turned on the TV, which went ignored, and really only served the purpose of making the situation seem worse.

Sasuke only got up from the couch a few times since the shaking began. Mostly he sat with his head down, holding himself as he appeared to be trying to subside the tremors somewhat. Made apprehensive by the bizarre situation, Naruto sat dutifully at Sasuke's side and sometimes even reached out to rub the other guy's back comfortingly - to which Sasuke sent him varying degrees of the Glare of Certain Death. Naruto ignored the glaring, because those were normal when it came to Sasuke anyway.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity but was in fact only an hour or two, the trembling began to calm somewhat, and Sasuke's breathing evened out. When eventually only his legs and his hands were the only things still unsteady, Sasuke lifted his face, and stretched out from the uncomfortable position he'd been sitting in. Naruto watched with large blue eyes to make sure that Sasuke was really alright. Despite the fact that Sasuke'd seemed to think it was only the coffee that had brought this episodes on, Naruto himself had began to wonder if Itachi hadn't slipped him something poisonous at some point earlier in the day.

"Still hungry?" Sasuke asked after a minute, and Naruto had to wonder at his casual tone - as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened at all. "The ramen place is probably closed by now, huh?" He made a face. "I don't have much here."

Sasuke seemed to know the trick when it came to distracting Naruto. As much unpleasantness (and pleasantness, alike) that had occurred in the apartment during the day, Naruto forgot everything else the moment that food was mentioned. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and on a normal day he probably would have already had three or four bowls of ramen by now. With a determined set of his mouth, Naruto retreated to the kitchen to raid Sasuke's cabinets. "Let's see..." he muttered seriously. There were no cups of ramen of course, no sugary cereals... not even any chips or sandwich meat. None of the things that Naruto would normally eat. "Man, you really need to go grocery shopping," he commented with a little smile. "I could just run over to my place and grab us some ramen."

Sasuke, who was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, slightly silhouetted by the lights on in the living room, looked up in alarm at that. "No," he said quickly, and Naruto stared at him questioningly. "Uh. No. I mean, it's late out. You should probably just stay here." Sasuke looked away, seemingly embarrassed.

Naruto smiled in slight confusion. Of course, he was flattered to have Sasuke Uchiha saying such things (because it kinda implied that Sasuke didn't want Naruto to be away from him), but Naruto knew very well that under normal circumstances, Sasuke wouldn't even want Naruto in his apartment at all in the first place. It was beyond weird that the guy was actually suggesting he stay the night. "What's up Sasuke?" he asked with a little laugh.

"It's...." Sasuke paused, and took a deep breath. "It's best you didn't know." He grimaced suddenly. "Hell. I'll go with you. There's nothing to eat here. Let's just run to your place and come back."

Naruto grinned. "Or we could just _stay _at my place and _not _come back."

Sasuke glared at him. "No. Definitely no."

* * *

"So what's up with the weird reaction to caffeine anyway?" Naruto asked conversationally as they walked.

Sasuke scowled, and there was that look again, directed Naruto's way. The look of _it's none of your business, so shut the hell up._ But really, Sasuke owed at least a little of an explanation to him, he thought. After all, he'd sat by him all throughout the miserable shaking and trembling. He deserved to at least know what was up. And after a minute of silence, Sasuke must have come to that same conclusion, because he muttered, "My body just doesn't do well with caffeine and sugars alright?" He paused then, and Naruto waited in silence. Sasuke sighed. "It's always been like that. Even when I was a child, I couldn't eat the things that normal kids liked. One time, Itachi stopped to get me ice cream after school, and... that was an unpleasant experience."

Naruto thought about that for a moment, and then laughed loudly at the image he was getting in his head. "Yeah. I could see you as a lil' kid, getting hyper and causing hell. It actually kinda makes sense. I mean, since you're all grr and uptight all the time. I bet you were crazy when you were little." He laughed again.

"Not really," Sasuke admitted. "My parents were kind of strict."

Naruto glanced over at him. Sasuke had said the words casually enough, but did he really feel nothing whenever he spoke of his dead family like that? At the moment, the Uchiha had his head down and his hands in his pockets. The two of them were almost to Naruto's place already, and Sasuke didn't look like he was really paying attention to where they were going. "I've never heard you talk about your parents before Sasuke."

Sasuke glanced at him, seemed embarrassed to see that Naruto's gaze was already on him, and looked away. "Doesn't matter anyway," he muttered.

"So... how'd you suddenly get mixed up with Itachi?" Sasuke looked over at him again, darkly this time. "Yeah, yeah, I know I shouldn't ask. You're about to get all bitchy on me again about how it's none of my business, right?"

It was all silence while Naruto waited for a reply, which he didn't really expect that he was going to get anyway. Usually he could tell whenever Sasuke either was or wasn't going to answer him - most of the time, it was the latter. It surprised him this time though. "Itachi... was waiting for me, at school one day."

Naruto glanced over in surprise. "Just like that?" he asked quietly.

Sasuke sighed. "Yeah."

"That's... creepy." Naruto thought for a moment. Well, he might as well ask as many questions as he could, while Sasuke was answering them anyway. His friend/rival was being unusually talkative tonight, considering that he usually didn't even speak full sentences to anybody, if he could help it. "So why wouldn't you let me leave by myself a minute ago? Itachi's not really going to kill me is he?" Naruto asked the question almost playfully, a little smile in his voice, but deep inside himself he knew that he already knew the answer. Sasuke shot him a look that told him as much. "Oh. Well... that's a problem."

Sasuke growled under his breath. "That's all you've got to say?" he snapped. Apparently he didn't like Naruto's casual reaction.

"Your concern is touching Sasuke-teme," he said, punching the other guy's arm with a grin. "But believe me, I won't go down so easily." Sasuke stared at him as if he were the biggest idiot alive - which, Sasuke probably thought that he was. Suddenly, Naruto threw his arms around the other guy.

"Wha- Naruto!" Sasuke complained, trying to get away, but the Kyuubi container continued to squeeze him tightly.

"Don't get all angsty about it Sasuke!" he said laughingly. "Everything's going to be fine, y'know?"


	10. Things Wanted, Taken

_**A/N: **About Sasuke and the caffeine thing in the last chapter... well, when I first thought it up, it was supposed to turn out funny, but somehow ended up being a little sad, instead. o_O Sasuke's uncontrollable shaking got to me a little bit._

_That aside, Sasuke's becoming a bit of a nervous wreck, ne? I guess Naruto was right about him not being able to handle emotional overload._

.:Things_Wanted_Taken:.

* * *

"I never got your hoodie back, did I?" Sasuke mused the next morning over breakfast ramen. Seeing as it was an unspoken deal that Naruto would be hanging around with Sasuke a lot in the next few days, they had grabbed more ramen than needed the night before while at said Uzumaki's apartment. As expected, the blonde dobe's kitchen cabinets had been crammed full with a colorful rainbow of different flavor ramen cups, and so taking about a week's worth of them was not a problem. However, seeing that, when it came to ramen, Naruto ate an ungodly amount more than any normal human being should - and Sasuke blamed it on the Kyuubi - they would probably have to go back after school this day to get some more.

And yes, they were actually going to school today. As much as Sasuke despised the place, it at least gave him something to do and an excuse to keep an eye on Naruto for a while longer.

Naruto blinked in surprise, running a light blue towel through his shower-wet hair, and laughed suddenly. "That's alright," he replied. "I don't think I'll miss it." He sat down at the table to slurp up his instant noodles, and grinned widely. "And to think this whole mess started with that damn hoodie." Though Naruto was nauseatingly talking with his mouth full again, Sasuke had to admit that the dobe made a fine point. If not for the hoodie, Sasuke wouldn't have accidentally blurted out that he'd been with Itachi.

It was actually kind of convenient that Naruto and Sasuke's apartments were so near to one another. It made the fangirls less suspicious whenever the two rivals ended up walking to school together. Not to mention the fact that, if Naruto were going to be staying with Sasuke for a little while (damn him and the never ending bad luck of the Uchiha) it would be a relief not to have to walk such long distances, because they'd probably be running back and fourth a lot.

All in all, as Sasuke had been surprised to discover the night before, Naruto was actually not such a terrible housemate. He randomly laughed at some of the strangest moments, but that had only been because he was on the couch reading manga. Since Sasuke had decided to crack open a book of his own - yes, he did like to read, thank you very much - Naruto had followed suit. The guy hadn't even turned on the TV, or put on loud music. He hadn't complained either, when Sasuke had retrieved an old blanket from a closet, sacrificed one of his own pillows, and dumped them onto the couch for him. Naruto just grinned, and even managed a polite, "Thank you Sasuke-teme."

However, it wasn't until halfway to the school that next morning when Sasuke's plans for the day were abruptly changed. Itachi's car pulled up next to him, slowed, and stopped at the curb. "Get in Sasuke," he said once he had the window down. It reminded Sasuke eerily of that day Itachi had shown up at school, to pick him up for the first time.

Nervously, the younger Uchiha glanced between Naruto - who was already a few paces away and staring - and his brother. "You didn't tell... the others... that Naruto knows about you being here, right?" he asked in a low voice, eyes to the ground.

"No."

Sasuke looked up into his brother's red eyes for some hint that he might be lying. Still Sasuke knew that it was no good - if Itachi wanted to lie, he could do so with perfect ease, right to his face, and Sasuke would never know. That's what made Sasuke nervous sometimes.

"Sasuke," Itachi said with impatient calm. "I'm telling the truth. I didn't say anything about Naruto to the others. Now please, get in." Sasuke hesitated for a moment longer, and suddenly decided that he believed him. He didn't think Itachi would lie to him.... Or at least, he hoped that he wouldn't.

Sasuke turned to Naruto, shrugged, and walked over to the passenger's side to get in. It should be alright, he told himself. Naruto would be at school during the day, around plenty of people, so there was no chance of him getting murdered there, right? Not to mention, if Sasuke stuck to his brother's side, and kept an eye on him, Naruto would be perfectly safe. Because only Itachi had reason to want to kill Naruto right? Itachi was the only one who knew that Naruto knew....

And as they drove slowly by, Sasuke watched Naruto's worry-filled face as those blue eyes of his followed the car. Naruto watched as if it were some sort of imminent doom crashing down upon him, and despite the fact that Sasuke wanted so much to hate the dobe, he felt a small pang of guilt in his gut at leaving him behind.

By the time that Sasuke finally came to his senses again, Itachi was glaring so hard at the windshield that Sasuke thought the glass might crack. "Itachi?" he asked quietly. The morning sounds of the waking world were cut off by the solitude of the inside of his brother's car.

Itachi's glare softened immediately at the sound of his name on Sasuke's lips. "Yes?" he asked, and his voice was smooth like butter. He certainly didn't sound angry, but that might have been part of a clever act. After a moment, when the silence stretched, Itachi said, "If you're wondering whether or not I saw that kiss yesterday, Sasuke, I did."

And the conversation was already turning unpleasant. Shit.

Sasuke couldn't think of a suitable reply for that, so he just stayed quiet again. His brother glanced over at him and smirked. "Don't worry about it," he said, and judging by his tone, Sasuke didn't know whether to follow his advice or to be even _more_ worried.

Probably, at that moment, Sasuke should have rushed to defend himself. He should have said that the kiss was all Naruto's fault (which, it actually had been) and that he himself had only acted on automatic reaction by kissing him back. The whole thing had been a complete and idiotic accident, and therefore not Sasuke's fault.

Instead all he said was, "S-so you're not mad about it?" Whatever his brother had to say about it, there was a crackling tension hovering in the air around him. Sasuke could feel it.

After a moment, Itachi shrugged, and grinned - but the smile had a touch of bitterness to it, and didn't touch his eyes. "All's fair in love and war," he said. "Although it's a bit more literal in our case, don't you think?" Considering Naruto and his brother caught up in the terms of "love and war," it was enough for Sasuke to nearly break out into a nervous sweat.

* * *

There was something different on this day. Itachi took Sasuke to the big Akatsuki mansion like always, but the place seemed even more unusually empty than it normally did. And then, Sasuke's brother dragged him by the arm through the course of hallways - which Sasuke was finally beginning to remember - and straight to what had somehow become "their" bedroom. Once inside with the door shut, Itachi didn't hesitate.

"Itachi," Sasuke gasped as his brother grabbed him up into his arms. For a moment, his mouth was otherwise occupied, and therefore he could not talk. "Itachi," he said again, breaking the kiss. "What are you doing?"

Itachi had him completely pinned up against the wall again - he seemed to enjoy having Sasuke there, to press his younger brother to a place that made him higher than him. Itachi smoothly wrapped Sasuke's legs around his waist, and applied more pressure against him, to which Sasuke gasped lightly again. Itachi slid Sasuke downward until his lips could reach his younger brother's ear. "Love and war," Itachi whispered, repeating their earlier said words. He smirked quietly. "Naruto Uzumaki can't have you."

From that point on, Sasuke was too lost within his brother's grasp to really concentrate on anything else.

* * *

Naruto really couldn't believe that Sasuke had just ditched him like that. How lame.

Then again, it was probably foolish wishful thinking to imagine that Sasuke would actually stick by his side for so long. Would Sasuke really keep Naruto around just for the sake of making sure he didn't get killed? It sounded awful when put that way, but still, Naruto was feeling enough low self-esteem at the moment to wonder.

Or maybe Sasuke had gone along with Itachi to _ensure_ Naruto's safety somehow -- but more than likely, that was just wishful thinking again. And was Itachi aware that Naruto had kissed Sasuke the day before? ...Would Sasuke tell him? In that case, Naruto would really be screwed. Not only did Itachi want his blood already, now Naruto could probably expect swift retribution for kissing Itachi's young... lover.

Placing the word "lover" with Itachi and Sasuke's faces made Naruto shudder inwardly. To tell the truth, he had been able to so easily shrug off the things that he saw because he did not want to believe in it. Naruto didn't want to think about _those_ things, so... he just didn't. Now was a different matter. Now, he had nothing better to do, because he was alone again. Sasuke... his greatest rival and best friend... was probably off somewhere getting shagged by Itachi at this very moment.

The sun was setting now. Being in the middle of autumn as it was, days were growing shorter, and the orange glow of the sunset mocked Naruto as he finally headed for home. School had been nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that Sasuke hadn't been there. Naruto was kind of getting used to the other guy's absence though, seeing as Sasuke skipped often these days. Oh yeah, and Naruto had also finally, officially "broken up with" Sakura. Needless to say, she hadn't been too heartbroken - although, she had questioned him on the goings on of his "real" love life, in hopes of hearing some good piece of gossip. For a while, Naruto had contemplated recounting his passionate kiss with Sasuke for her - in great detail - but in the end had ultimately decided against it, seeing as Sasuke probably wouldn't appreciate the entire school knowing he was gay by the time he came back.

After school had let out, Naruto had wondered for the first time what he was supposed to do with the rest of his day. It was kind of strange, how he'd been so sure that he'd be spending the next few days with Sasuke, at _his_ apartment. And now Naruto had nowhere left to go but his own, lonely place. Maybe he was being overdramatic, but he didn't really care. So, Naruto had gone to the ramen shop, which had overall been a bad idea. Ramen was always good of course, but Naruto had more than enough instant noodles at home, and going to the shop had only reminded him of that day spent there with Sasuke. The day that Naruto had learned Sasuke's secret about Itachi.

Still, he'd lingered at the place for longer than really necessary, chatting with the man behind the bar without really putting any thought into the conversation. At one point, the man had roused him from his thoughts. "This is certainly a first," Teuchi Ichiraku with a little huff.

"That's right," the guy's daughter, Ayame, said with a laugh. "I don't recall Naruto ever hesitating to eat his ramen before."

Naruto had smiled at them a bit unwillingly. The two had always been unreasonably nice to him, and their fun personalities clashing with his own made it impossible to not be friendly. "Sorry guys," Naruto apologized. "I've just got stuff on my mind today." And so, Naruto had taken that as his cue to leave. He'd slurped up his ramen and paid his tab, and now here he was, walking home. Naruto wondered if Sasuke would get back sometime later that night, or if he would even show up at school the next day.

So, it was just an ordinary walk home. Boring, and lonely, and so very sadly normal. He was nearly at his apartment now -- as it was with Sasuke's apartment, Naruto didn't live very far away from the ramen shop either. It was definitely a plus, being who he was. He was just pulling his house key out from his wallet when it happened.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Twice in one day (and counting...?). That was something new.

As usually happened whenever the two of them had sex (because it really was just that - having sex, not making love) Itachi and Sasuke had sort of just collapsed into an exhausted sleep earlier. It was impossible to imagine that either one of them had enough stamina to do it again, especially after they had just woken up from having said intercourse.

However, the moment that Sasuke's eyes slid open, and he saw Itachi looking at him with such seriousness, he knew right then that he was ready for another round. Because he didn't want to think right now. Sasuke... he just wanted to forget. He wanted to sink into his brother's arms, and forget it all.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The first thing that came to Naruto's mind when he felt the rough fingers grabbing at his shirt, was that maybe Sasuke had come back. And that hope had instantly melted away into unadulterated fear when he saw that he had been snatched into some out-of-the-way place... so near his apartment door. That was when he realized that there was more than just one pair of hands on him. Naruto reached out and clawed desperately at the edge of the brick wall, while his captors continued to sink him into the shadows. An unexpectedly soft hand was holding over his lips, keeping him quiet.

Naruto's head cracked against the brick and his breath left his lungs in a great _whoosh _as he was suddenly slammed up against the wall of his own apartment building. Hazily he could see people, pedestrians, out on the streets, walking idly by, some of them with smiling faces in the light of the disappearing sun. Naruto reached toward them, but they could not see him there.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The one most convenient thing about getting caught up in the act of passion twice in one day, was the fact that all articles of clothing had already been discarded, and therefore were not so annoyingly in the way. Itachi held Sasuke's wrists - seeming so small and fragile in his larger, stronger hands - tightly to the bed, as he lowered himself for a breathy kiss. Sasuke relented, and reveled in the feel of Itachi's tongue burning it's way around the inside of his mouth. It was always like this. Every time. Sasuke lost himself here, and that's exactly what he wanted.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

A heavily wetted, funny smelling cloth was pressed to Naruto's face... not that he needed much more encouragement to slip into unconsciousness - the blow to his head a second ago had been a nasty one, and he was already seeing stars. Still, he tried to fight them off; but his fingers, his movements, they were all weak from shock and pain. His captors pushed away his efforts easily enough, and Naruto got the sense that they were not so much taking pleasure out of this as they were just getting the job done. It felt like they were working from a list of set instructions - they did things so orderly, and their promptness reminded Naruto faintly of Itachi.

But this could not be Itachi, no. For some reason... Naruto honestly believed that Itachi were not among the ones taking him down. So why were these people doing this to him? He could think of only one possible reason -- that it had something to do with the Kyuubi. And Naruto was too weak, his thoughts moving too sluggishly, for him to think of calling upon the demon for the strength he needed. He could not see the faces of his captors. He couldn't even count how many they were, because his eyesight was quickly failing, and they blended into the shadows besides.

If there had not been so many hands on him - and there seemed an infinite amount to the half-conscious Naruto - he would have fallen to his knees then. Naruto's vision faded to complete darkness, as the sun sank it's last few inches beneath the horizon, and somewhere else in this ill-fated twilight, Sasuke Uchiha was allowing his deceiving older brother to enter and explore the deepest hiding places of his soul.

* * *

_**A/N: **Was the switching back and fourth thing annoying? It was supposed to show that the two things were happening at the same time, but things like that always looks different on Word than they do on the internet.... _


	11. To Think That He Would Smile

_**A/N: **The switching back and fourth between POV's at the end of the last chapter... I considered changing it, but after much deliberation, I've decided to keep it as it is. I just... like it too much ^__^_

.:To_Think_That_He_Would_Smile:.

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki had left their goddamned Biology project at school again. Sakura, previously being his "girlfriend," of course had always partnered up with him when it came to such school activities. Although it was with her luck that Naruto never once did _his_ share of the work. It was typical, really - what else could Sakura expect from Naruto Uzumaki?

And so it was that it was Sakura's most unfortunate duty to have to deliver the thing to Naruto's doorstep. She'd already been stuck with the thing for the past _three days_, and she was getting tired of looking at it. It was most definitely Naruto's turn by now - he'd already skipped out on it twice. Sakura had decided, she would shove it in his arms and run if she had to, but dammit, Naruto_ was_ going to help her this time. This time, she really meant it - he would_ earn_ his half of the credit, or else Sakura would inform their teacher, and let him fail.

Dusk was falling quickly on her now. Well, that's what she got for putting something like this off until the last minute. She'd had to stay after school for torturing anyway - which was normal, and _no_, it wasn't that _she_ needed the extra help. Sakura was a volunteer tutor at the high school, because she was actually pretty smart believe it or not. Upon readying to leave the school earlier, she'd had a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach as she headed for the Biology room. She'd told Naruto time and time _again_ throughout the day that it was _his_ turn to take the project home -- and as expected, when she opened up the classroom door, there it was, sitting right where she'd left it.

"Mommy! Mommy, look! _Look!_"

Sakura smiled gently. The little girl, just ahead of her some distance up the street, was so cute. Apparently her mother had stopped to chat with friends, and the woman wasn't paying any attention to the girl's insistent tugging at her sleeve. Sakura adored children. This little girl looked as if she were no older than four or five. She had a glowing burgundy colored hair that fell in ringlets to her tiny shoulders, and wide golden eyes.

Strangely enough, she was pointing to the narrow alleyway just off to the side of Naruto's apartment building. "What are they doing to that boy?" her little voice asked shakily, and the mother, whose attention had still been diverted, finally looked down at her. "What is it dear?" she asked with a smile.

Sakura couldn't wait. One day,_ she_ would be a mother like that. One day, she would have the chance to smile down at such a cute face, and know that she had a little someone of her own to love for life. Sometimes... in her dreams, Sakura would see tiny Uchiha babies with bubblegum pink hair -- but of course she knew that that was a dream best left for dreaming. Something like that could never happen in real life. Hell, even Naruto had a better chance of getting at Sasuke than_ she_ did. Because, yes of course Sakura knew exactly who it was that Naruto had the crush on. She'd been aware of it for such a very long time, but strangely, she didn't mind it at all. Maybe it was because she'd been around the two of them for so long, and understood somewhere inside herself that it could really work between them. Or maybe it was just that Naruto wasn't a woman. As long as Sakura wasn't losing to another female, she'd be just fine.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by the sound of that child's mother screaming. "Oh my god!" one of the woman's friends exclaimed, and the mother held her daughter close, hiding the little girl's face in her skirts. "I-is he dead?" the woman's friend asked.

It was probably at the sound of that first scream, when Sakura began to suspect what she might see in that alleyway. A horrible, gut-wrenching sensation numbed her all the way up to her hairline, and yet she found that her feet were still moving beneath her. She ran to the place where the crowd of people was beginning to gather, and before she knew it, Sakura was looking down at a strange heap of... something - something with bloodstained blonde hair.

She faintly heard the sound of the glass from their project shattering when her schoolbag slipped from her shoulder. "Na...ruto...?"

* * *

...

* * *

Naruto had never once in his life put much thought into how he would die. It was just not something that an optimistic, hyperactive, Konoha teenager would do. However, if ever such a time would come for him to consider such a thing, now would be a good time for it.

Not much could be said for Naruto's condition, because he was staring up at the ceiling when he came to, and therefore could not see the extent of the damage. At first, he was very, very confused. Vaguely, he remembered that sunset - the play of his shadow mocking his steps on the way back home from Ichiraku's that night. He wanted to call out to somebody to ask what was going on, but he had one of those breathing tubes in his throat, stealing away his ability to speak.

Bright mid-morning sunlight was streaming in through the window, and since the last thing Naruto remembered was a sunset, he quickly determined that something must have happened between that time and now. He remembered thinking about Sasuke, and... pulling out his key....

Wait. Sasuke had come hadn't he? Hadn't Sasuke shown up? Hadn't he been there when Naruto went to go unlock his door? He distinctly remember _thinking _that Sasuke was there. So what had happened after that...? Naruto knew that, despite being rivals, and despite the fact that they engaged in fistfights often enough, Sasuke would never intentionally hurt him _this _badly. Because Naruto _was _badly hurt - that much was apparent. He knew the layout of hospital rooms well enough - they always looked exactly the same.

Naruto sifted through his memories, but found nothing. As much as he tried to remember seeing Sasuke's face at that time, he just kept coming up with a blank. What could have...?

And that's when he remembered Itachi.

Itachi. Itachi. _Itachi._ Duh! Really, it shouldn't have taken him so long to come to that conclusion. Itachi must have dropped Sasuke off at his apartment that night, and then come to take Naruto out. It was weird though. Itachi looked like he was thorough guy. Surely he wouldn't have accidentally ended up leaving Naruto alive. And he definitely wouldn't have left him alive on _purpose_, right?

There was the sound of a door clattering open then, and, immediately distracted, Naruto's eyes traveled to the left. For a moment, he struggled to turn his head, only to find that his body was mostly numb. He couldn't _feel _anything, aside from twitching his fingers and moving his eyes.

And then, Sasuke's face came into Naruto's circle of vision. Naruto stared up at him with wide blue eyes, literally unable to say anything. Sasuke's facial expression was dark, and his brow was creased deeply. He looked so troubled, Naruto just wanted to jump up from the hospital bed and dance around and say, _"See? I'm fine." _But he couldn't do that.

Sasuke pulled a chair up to Naruto's bedside, and the sense of one of Naruto's hands came back to him then, because Sasuke had picked it up. Sasuke Uchiha was actually holding Naruto's hand. The Uchiha rested his head on Naruto. He didn't cry of course. He never cried, and this time, he didn't have to. The strange, silent way that Sasuke was acting was more than enough to indicate he was blaming himself for Naruto's condition. Naruto wished he wouldn't. He waned to tell Sasuke that it was alright, but the only thing he could do was lie there, numbly, and stroke his hand in comfort.

* * *

"I thought you said that this was all for me," Sasuke said in a dead voice. He was in Itachi's car again - his brother had come to pick him up from the hospital. "I thought you said that all this was for me...." his voice came out a near whisper now, rough from the tears his pride refused to let his shed.

"It is, Sasuke," Itachi replied simply. But _his _voice was completely emotionless. He didn't care what happened to people like Naruto. Naruto was nothing to him.

If Sasuke had been at his limit before, he didn't know what_ this_ meant.... He was really beginning to fall apart.

Not bothering with the damn seatbelt at this point, Sasuke brought his legs up into the seat, and lowered his face. "And keeping me away from Naruto yesterday?" he demanded quietly. "You knew it was going to happen!" Sasuke didn't like the whiney sort of tone that his speech had taken on, but he ignored it.

"Yes," Itachi admitted. "But it was only for your protection that I kept you away. I've already told you this. The Akatsuki would have killed Naruto whether you were there or not. If you _had_ been there, they would have killed you too." Itachi sounded like he was reading it from a book by now; Sasuke had heard this so many times. His brother was just getting more and more frustrated with him, and Sasuke was caring less and less.

"That's your problem Itachi," he muttered. "You're so worried about keeping me safe that you don't even think about what I want. You're like a robot or something. You just want to smother me."

Itachi shook his head, and scoffed a little. "What can I do to get this through to your head Sasuke? I'm trying to keep you _alive_."

"You didn't care if Naruto died," he interrupted.

"That is because _Naruto Uzumaki_ means nothing to me," Itachi spat.

"Well he means something to me!" Everything fell into silence as Sasuke's words really sank in. He hadn't meant to say it quite like that; not really. Outbursts like that just weren't meant to come out of an Uchiha's mouth. But now that the words were out there, there was no way of taking them back in. Sasuke... had never admitted something like that out loud. Not about Naruto. They were rivals - enemies. Now what?

At first, Itachi's eyes narrowed dangerously, but they softened up after a minute, and it appeared as if Sasuke's words had really stung. "Do you not love me anymore then, little brother?"

Sasuke thought in distressed silence, and shook his head roughly, as if to clear it of all these conflicting thoughts. "I will always... love you, Itachi," he said, and that was true enough. But he'd never said that out loud either - not in so many words at least. "Of course I still love you. I've always loved you." It was true. It was true.

"So then where does Naruto Uzumaki fit into this picture?"

"I... don't know." It was hard to think about; difficult to concentrate. Sasuke just kept seeing Naruto's wide blue eyes, and Sakura's panic-stricken face. She was the one he'd received the news from. Itachi had dropped him off at his apartment late the night before, and Sasuke had found Sakura sitting crying on his doorstep. He'd been confused at first. At first he'd suspected that she was there about something ridiculous - that she was about to blurt some drawn-out fangirlish confession. But then she'd lifted her face, and Sasuke noticed that her entire body was trembling. The moment her eyes had focused upon him, Sakura suddenly flew into a panic, and began to blubber something about Naruto being dead.

That... had been a very scary moment for Sasuke.

Sasuke kept thinking about the night before, when he'd been trying to hide. Naruto had been in trouble, while Sasuke was off having sex with his brother. Sasuke'd wanted to disappear in Itachi's arms that night, to run away from everything again. There were so many things that Sasuke hadn't realized until just that morning. He'd stayed up all night, alone in his apartment, unable to sleep. He'd tried to send Itachi away, but his brother had refused, saying that Sasuke still needed protection. With that, Sasuke had locked himself up in his bedroom for the night, thinking.

You know, his entire life, Sasuke had gotten very adept at... running away from things. But now, he thought, it was time to stop running.

For the first time in such a very long time, tears leaked from the corners of Sasuke's eyes, and they rolled over and down his cheeks like miniature waterfalls. "I just don't know," he said quietly.

* * *

Surprisingly enough, it was Kakashi Hatake, the bad-porno-reading English teacher himself, who was going to be watching over Naruto while he was at the hospital. Elementary schoolteacher Iruka Umino, who was a sort of father figure to Naruto, would have volunteered to do it himself... had he not been so apprehensive about leaving his kindergarteners for so long. Thus, Kakashi, the dutiful lover that he was, agreed to do it for him. (Because of course, everyone _knew_ that the two teachers were lovers. Word like that spread like wildfire on dry grass in a place like Konoha.)

It was not that Kakashi didn't like Naruto or anything though. Actually, he would have probably volunteered to do this himself even if Iruka's worries had had nothing to do with it. Being Iruka's lover, Kakashi saw Naruto much of the time, outside of school as well as in, and though the man would probably never admit it, he was sort of becoming attached to the optimistic blonde boy. Naruto was a very infectious sort of person after all.

The police, of course, had questioned the little girl who'd first pointed out the goings on in that alleyway that night. They'd also spoken thoroughly with the child's mother, and the mother's friend. Then they'd moved on to Sakura, and afterward even to Sasuke, who'd been a little shaken throughout the entire routine. The cops claimed that they wanted as much information as they could scrape up, questioning just about everybody who was close to Naruto in order to find out if he'd had any enemies, or if anybody knew anyone who'd want to hurt him. (Of course, it did not really help that, when asked, nearly everyone had told the police that _Sasuke_ was his rival.)

The questionings had been merely a formality though, because as astonishing as it was, the police actually suspected the Akatsuki's involvement from the beginning. They'd always thought that some such thing might happen, or so Sasuke was told. Ah yes, and even more astonishing was the fact that Kakashi himself was _also _a part of the police force. That fact had been mostly kept a secret though - he worked at the school as an English teacher to study the behavior of students, and also in case any emergency ever happened. So it was that he asked Sasuke to keep it very low key.

_Kakashi, a cop?_ Sasuke wondered. _They actually let a pervert like that into the police force...?_ Well, Kakashi-sensei was no Private Eye, that was for sure. Anyway, at least one good thing came about it - seeing as he and Naruto were sort-of-rivals, Sasuke would have been a suspect had Kakashi not been there to partially explain the complexity of the relationship. He'd embellished it a great deal though, and at the time Sasuke had more felt the urge to hit him than being grateful.

Ironically enough, the day that Sasuke was questioned, he was also told by the police that his elder brother, Itachi, might also be a part of the Akatsuki. Huh. Go figure.

Another rumor was spreading around Konoha as well now. That Sasuke and Naruto were not so rival-ish as they had appeared. The Sasuke Uchiha fangirls had it in their heads that nobody who hated someone so much would take the time to privately visit said person in the hospital so many times. And Sasuke had never before known that his fan club was also so... yaoi obsessed. Really, they had the nerve to _actually _cheer him on....

Anyway, the second time that Sasuke went to visit Naruto, though he himself was still feeling quite down about the whole matter, the dobe was decidedly more lively. Sasuke _probably_ shouldn't have been surprised to hear the strings of curse words issuing from Naruto's mouth, but he was. He stood outside the door to the room in shock, and that was when Kakashi came out. The man took one surprised glance at Sasuke, and smiled happily, shutting the door to cut off the sound of Naruto loud voice. "Ah, Sasuke," he said by way of greeting him. "Phew. I'm saved. You can sit with Naruto for a while can't you? Personally he's getting on my nerves."

"Wha-?"

"Ja, ne." Kakashi waved idly as he scampered off down the hallway.

_That guy... _Sasuke thought, suddenly irritated.

Though he still looked pretty banged up, Naruto was sitting with arms crossed on the bed, glaring at the opposite wall. He didn't look up until Sasuke had already shut the door behind him. And then Naruto's face glowed. "Sasuke!" he said with a happy smile.

Sasuke just did not have the energy to return such a smile. Naruto was so... exhausting. Sasuke never knew what to expect from him. Here it was being Sasuke's fault that Naruto had nearly gotten killed, and the dobe was sitting there smiling at him.

However much it confused Sasuke, Naruto just continued to grin widely like the idiot that he was, and patted a spot next to him on the bed invitingly. With a little sigh, Sasuke gave in, and crossed the room to sit down next to him. "What are you causing so much havoc about this time, dobe?" he asked quietly.

"Hm? Oh, that. They won't let me have ramen." Naruto's voice had a touch of bitterness to it, but still he continued to beam at Sasuke as if there were nothing wrong at all. Naruto without ramen? What a disaster.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, Naruto sobered up. "What's up Sasuke?" He must have meant the look on Sasuke's face. To tell the truth, the Uchiha wasn't particularly in the mood for smiling. "...You still think it was your fault, don't you?"

Sasuke looked up at him in surprise. "How did you know that?" he asked, but really he should have known. One couldn't expect less from Naruto Uzumaki. The kid was a loud-mouthed idiot, but he was also very open and truthful. And always very weirdly happy. Unlike Sasuke, it was easy for him to accept the people around him just as they were. When it came down to it, Naruto was not judgmental at all - in fact, he had high hopes for everybody, not just for himself - and as mentioned before, he was also a very good judge of character.

Naruto gave him a small smile. "You're kinda easy to read Sasuke."

...He wasn't the first person to tell Sasuke that.

"So what's up?" the blonde boy repeated. He leaned in a little closer, and Sasuke could practically feel the warmth coming off of him. Naruto... was a good person. Not like Sasuke.

"I've decided... to stop running." That was all he said, and he couldn't meet Naruto's eyes. Those blue eyes were too curious, too knowing. As Itachi's red eyes had at first, they kind of irked Sasuke somewhat.

In the silence that followed, Naruto placed a hand on one of Sasuke's, and Sasuke glanced at him again. But Naruto didn't say anything. He just smiled.

After a moment, Sasuke smirked in return. "I'll sneak you some ramen in tomorrow, dobe."

* * *

_**A/N:** I honestly didn't think that I was going to be able to get this chapter finished today. Mondays are the worst. -_-' School totally drains me of my artistic-ish skillz._


	12. Feelings Divided

_**A/N: **I'm glad that most of you seem to not mind the SasuNaru... because yes, in case it's not obvious enough by now, this story will contain SasuNaru.... Don't give up hope on the ItaSasu though. All will be explained in due time. ^_~_

**_p.s. _**_For those of you who said you couldn't understand how Naruto survived... it was because of the little girl, who saw the Akatsuki in the act. Once she noticed them, they were forced to run off without finishing the job. Kids are much more perceptive than adults, you know?_

.:Feelings_Divided:.

* * *

"You're looking... better... anyway," Sasuke noted the next day, with the promised steaming cup of ramen in hand. It had been difficult getting it in past the nurses and the doctors, but there had definitely not been any getting past Kakashi. However, the silver haired man had simply looked from Sasuke's blank face, to the ramen in his hands, and went off whistling as if he had seen nothing at all. It was a lucky thing, for Naruto at least.

"Better" was an understatement to how Naruto was looking. Over all, it confused the hell out of Sasuke. Serious injuries just didn't heal _that_ _fast_.

Naruto happily slurped up a mouthful of the noodles - actually _chewed, _and swallowed before speaking. Well then. He must have finally caught on to the fact that manners were preferable. He pointed proudly at himself. "Kyuubi," he said as a way of explaining. Ah. The Kyuubi. Sasuke had nearly forgotten that having the fox demon within him gave Naruto the power to heal inhumanly quickly.

The door the to hospital room behind Sasuke suddenly open ominously, and Naruto cursed. It was the dobe's doctor - a woman by the name of Tsunade. Seeing as she was also the one who had been long ago appointed the job of regularly checking the condition of Kyuubi seal, she and Naruto had already known one another for quite some time. In fact, Naruto was so familiar with the woman that he felt the need to call her "Old Hag" quite frequently. If Naruto weren't such an idiot, Sasuke supposed it would have been amusing.

Tsunade's golden eyes traveled to ramen cup in Naruto's hands, and then found their way to Sasuke. The Uchiha was standing nonchalantly, hands in his pockets, as if to say _hey it's not my fault if the dobe is obsessed with instant noodles._ She "hmphed" and continued on as if Sasuke weren't there. "I see you've continued to heal at an extraordinarily fast rate, Naruto." He made a face at her, frowning. She smacked him on the head lightly. "Don't look at me like that. Damn twerp."

"Nyaa," said Naruto, and stuck his tongue out.

Sasuke took a place to stand at one side of the room, leaning against the wall and watching the procedure. Tsunade had had yet to do her daily check up on Naruto today, and she went through the entire process as methodically as possible - checking the condition of Naruto's individual wounds, and the broken bones (that had all already halfway healed thanks to the Kyuubi anyway). Then of course she did the basics - listened to his breathing and heart rate, took his temperature and blood pressure and all that blah. However there was much bickering back and fourth between the doctor and patient while she worked, but Sasuke thought, there was something lighthearted about their fighting. It was strange. They argued and said mean things, but they looked like they were having fun.

Sasuke had never bantered with anybody like that, and he'd never before paid attention whenever other people did it either. It was weird to watch, and kind of made him feel the tiniest bit out of the picture. He felt like an intruder who didn't belong, looking in on someone else's happiness - strange as it was that Naruto should currently be _happy_ at all....

So as Sasuke watched them, he distracted himself by taking the opportunity to examine Naruto's condition for himself. There was a bandage wrapped around the other guy's forehead, hiding a portion of his blonde hair, because of a head wound he'd received. There were also a few scrapes on his face and shoulders and neck, but those were the very minimal of the damage, and were strangely taking longer to heal. (Sasuke guessed it was probably because Kyuubi's power was looking in on healing the more serious things first.)

A sling was wrapped around Naruto's right arm, where his first day in the hospital, there had been a cast. The arm had been broken, and the shoulder dislocated besides. And one of the more sickening things that had happened to him, was in a place that one couldn't actually see until the moment Tsunade lifted his shirt. A kunai had been plunged deep into Naruto's stomach that night, right in the center of the Kyuubi seal. Apparently upon his arrival at the hospital, the seal had been the first thing to be worked on. Aside from that particular wound however, Tsunade claimed that the seal itself was fine - thankfully. Sasuke didn't even want to imagine what would happen to Naruto if the Kyuubi suddenly exploded out of him.

Finally, Tsunade seemed to be satisfied with her examination. "Well, as usual, the Kyuubi's power seems to be keeping you going strong," she said with a sniff. "You should be out of here by tomorrow I guess, but don't let your abnormally fast recovery get to your head. Maybe next time you should be more careful about stepping into dark alleyways in the middle of the night, _brat_."

Naruto scoffed loudly. "I was _dragged_ into that alley, Hag. And it wasn't even dark out yet."

She smirked. "That only shows that you're even more stupid than I thought you were." The woman looked and sounded like she was being mean to him, but just before she turned away, she reached out to ruffle Naruto's hair lightly. Naruto half-smiled at her retreating back.

Tsunade left the room, bowing her head to Sasuke slightly in acknowledgement of his presence. He said nothing to her, just watched her leave, and was finally able to turn back to Naruto himself. The dobe was grinning of course, and Sasuke still couldn't understand that. Naruto was smiling far too easily for someone who'd nearly just died a couple days ago.

"Tch. What do you keep smiling about, dobe?" he asked, walking up next to Naruto's bed again.

The blonde guy frowned in thought for just a short moment. "I guess it's 'cause _you _never smile," he said finally.

Sasuke looked at him a bit incredulously for that. "What is that supposed to mean?" Sometimes, Naruto really made no sense at all.

"I can smile for the both of us." Naruto jabbed a thumb at his own chest importantly. "Which is why I _totally _think that you should leave Itachi and be with me. He's way too serious for you anyway Sasuke." He said the words jokingly enough, but then again, there was a certain light in Naruto's eyes when he said it. Sasuke stared at him blankly for a moment, but the other guy just continued grinning up at him of course, completely unfazed.

Finally Sasuke sighed, and made his way around the bed to stand over by the window - mostly so that Naruto wouldn't see the faint pink that touched his cheeks. Sasuke had grown almost used to blushing around Itachi, but he'd never allow himself something like that around Naruto. He'd never hear the end of it if he did.

That's right. Because Sasuke had almost - _almost, _but not quite - forgotten that Naruto had feelings for him. He didn't even want to _think_ about _that _at the moment. He was too busy worrying about just keeping the both of them alive so far. "Now you just sound like Deidara," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"Who's that?"

"_Who's that?"_ Sasuke wondered. _Deidara.... The guy who probably had a hand in trying to kill you the other day. Shit. I'm sorry, Naruto._ Actually, Sasuke felt kind of guilty. He'd spent all that time with Itachi at the Akatsuki place. The term "fraternizing with the enemy" took on a new definition in this case. And to think it'd only been little more than a week ago when all this began....

"I remembered something earlier," Naruto said quietly after a moment.

Sasuke continued to stare out the window. "What?" he asked.

"...I thought... when I woke up in the hospital, at first I could have swore that it was Itachi who tried to kill me. But it wasn't. I just remembered today - Itachi wasn't there Sasuke. It was a bunch of other guys." Sasuke turned in surprise, and Naruto half-smiled. "So it wasn't your fault, you know? You kept blaming yourself for it, but...."

Sasuke thought about that, momentarily stunned by Naruto's sudden conclusion, and having no idea how to deny it. Finally, Sasuke just shook his head. "No. You're wrong Naruto. It _is_ my fault.... Kakashi told you didn't he? He told you that the Akatsuki might've been the ones who tried to kill you?" Naruto nodded, blue eyes large and curious. "Itachi is part of the Akatsuki, Naruto. He's one of them. He... must have told them that you knew he was in town. I asked him, and he said he didn't tell the others anything about you, but... I guess he lied." Sasuke felt his eyes sadden. He hadn't cried again since the day before in the car, but sometimes, he felt his heart - a muscle that, for so many years, he hadn't believed he even _had_ - lurch achingly inside his chest. It hurt to think that Itachi would so easily and deliberately lie to him.

Naruto seemed... shocked. "Oh." He paused, and again said, "Oh."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "Yeah," he said. "'Oh.'"

"Well... that makes sense, I guess. Kakashi-sensei didn't say anything about Itachi being...."

"Yeah. Well he wouldn't would he? There's no reason why it would be significant for you to know that. But the police _do_ know Itachi's one of them. They told me the other day."

Naruto swallowed hard. Obviously, he was rethinking the whole situation all over again. "Wow," he said quietly. "So Itachi was the reason after all? I thought it was 'cause of the Kyuubi they wanted me dead."

"The Kyuubi?" Sasuke asked numbly, and suddenly, and unexpectedly, several things clicked together at once. They had stabbed Naruto's gut - right in the middle of the Kyuubi seal. Itachi claimed that he'd never told the Akatsuki anything about Naruto knowing he was around, and that might not have been a lie after all. It was altogether possible that Naruto's name had been down on the Akatsuki's list long before Itachi had even shown up in Konoha. Why hadn't Sasuke considered that before? Had Itachi been lying about the Akatsuki wanting Sasuke himself dead too? ...No, Sasuke decided he could believe Itachi about _that _part. What would be the point in making up such a story?

...If not only to make himself look completely innocent when the rest of the group murdered Naruto? Shit. Sasuke wondered how good of an actor Itachi really was.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Naruto asked cautiously. It was then that Sasuke realized his eyes had grown very wide. Shaking himself out of his trance, the Uchiha crossed the room over to him, and sank down next to Naruto on the bed. He'd told himself he'd stop running away from everything, and... he was still going to do that if he could. He just needed to sort out his thoughts first. "What's wrong?" Naruto asked again, blue eyes worried.

How did Naruto do it? How did he just go on smiling all the friggin' time? Sasuke had always thought it was annoying, because Naruto had more than enough to worry about - in fact, his life had always been very nearly as shitty as Sasuke's was. And yet Naruto was so optimistic and... wild. He was sociable, and trustworthy - the ideal friend, though he was kind of unpopular. So how did he do it?

Sasuke sighed - his thoughts were confusing him again - and rested his forehead on Naruto's no-longer-injured shoulder. "It's nothing," he muttered blankly.

* * *

Itachi picked Sasuke up from the hospital again of course. He looked meaningfully at Sasuke, but didn't try to talk to him - Sasuke had been doing his best to ignore him for the past two days. And Itachi was being somewhat annoying. Though Sasuke refused to acknowledge him more than he absolutely had to, Itachi insisted on sticking around. He stayed at Sasuke's apartment, saying that Sasuke still needed protection from the Akatsuki. Sasuke kept to himself as much as he could, staying in his room mostly. Itachi seemed to understand though. He never bothered him, and he didn't seem to harbor bad feelings about Sasuke's obvious cold-shoulder. He was practically at Sasuke's beck and call. Itachi claimed that he would give Sasuke anything, do anything for Sasuke, if it would make him feel better. He _told_ Sasuke to order him around. Whenever Sasuke wanted to go somewhere, Itachi would take him.

It was different for the moment though. Sasuke had things he needed to say now; questions he wanted answered, for which he could only hope for the truth in return. And so, Sasuke steeled himself for what he knew would be a particularly uncomfortable conversation. "Itachi," he said finally, taking in a deep breath.

His brother glanced at him questioningly, obviously sensing that Sasuke had something big on his mind. "Yes?"

"You... were going to let me go on believing that it was all my fault. If Naruto had died, you would have let me think it was because of me." He was looking directly at Itachi now, but his brother's eyes were on the road. "But it wasn't my fault at all was it?"

Itachi looked at him from the corners of his eyes, and shrugged. "Of course. I keep telling you that Sasuke."

"That's not what I mean," Sasuke snapped. "The Akatsuki _already_ wanted to kill Naruto. Didn't they?" Sasuke bowed his head low, ashamed now that he hadn't seen it before. Because now that he thought about it, it was just so _obvious._ He stared blankly down at the now chipped nail polish on his fingers. The day Itachi had painted them, they'd been so smooth and perfect, but now it was all starting to come off, revealing the real, dull colored nail underneath. That was how this felt now. Itachi was nothing but painted purple lies, trying to hide the truth from Sasuke. And as sweet as those lies sounded, they would break apart someday. What a strange, bitter analogy.

"You are right of course," Itachi replied simply.

"And you lied about the Akatsuki wanting _me_ dead, too, didn't you?"

When Itachi next spoke, a hint of darkness had entered his voice. He was angry, but the anger was not directed at Sasuke this time. "...No. No little brother. That... wasn't a lie. If I thought it would be safe to leave you now, I think I would. It would be better if I weren't in your life at all."

Sasuke glanced up at his brother in sudden alarm. No, he hadn't said it in so many words, but something in his voice suggested.... "You weren't planning on ever coming back were you?" Sasuke breathed. "You promised me all those years ago that you'd come back to me, but that was a lie too, wasn't it?"

"Not at the time, no." Itachi sighed heavily. "But when I became a part of the Akatsuki, Sasuke, I knew that I would never see you again. I still hoped for it - everyday. But I didn't want you to see what I've become, and I didn't want to put you in any danger."

"...too late for that now," Sasuke remarked quietly, and something in the atmosphere silenced them at that.

They didn't talk the rest of the way to Sasuke's apartment. Once there, Sasuke shut himself in his bedroom again, silently leaving Itachi to his own amusements in the living room. He then proceeded to curl up on the bed, and bowed his head, arms hugging his legs. This was all quickly becoming routine.

After a while - thirty minutes or so, and Sasuke was beginning to drift in the uncomfortable position of having his head resting on his knees - there was a soft, tentative knock on the door. Sasuke opted to ignore. He was tired - it was dark in his room with the light off, and the sun was going down. After a short moment, Itachi came in anyway.

Itachi sat next to Sasuke on the bed, but didn't say anything or try to touch him. Sometimes, Sasuke's brother knew best when to leave him alone. Sometimes. "I'm still mad at you," Sasuke said after a minute. Not that he wanted to be. No, he didn't really want to be angry with his brother. Sometimes, if he looked at everything from an objective point of view, he could almost see where Itachi was coming from on the matter. But that wasn't the point. The way Itachi had so coldly steered Sasuke away, when he'd known that Naruto was in trouble... it was inhumane. And now, with everything else piled on top of that. Letting Sasuke blame himself needlessly.... Doubts upon doubts just seemed to be building up against them. Could Sasuke and Itachi never be together then?

"I know," Itachi replied simply.

Silence. Then....

Itachi easily removed Sasuke's hands from the grip around his legs, and placed them gently within his own for a moment. Then the older brother lifted Sasuke's face, and left his hand lingering there on Sasuke's cheek. "What can I do?" he breathed, and his eyes were sad - guilty. It seemed that he wanted to work things out between them just as much as Sasuke did. But try as they might, the two of them were still just tiptoeing their way over minefields. To put it bluntly, such a thing really _sucked_ when it came to the person you loved.

Sasuke took this quiet opportunity to really lookat his brother - for the first time in two days. He'd had trouble looking at Itachi since he'd found out what had happened to Naruto. The circles beneath Itachi's eyes were a lot darker than they had been, and he looked even more troubled than the day when he'd first picked Sasuke up. His brow was creased with stress, and his lips were pressed into a tight, thin line. As Sasuke had sat in silence for the past two days, Itachi had also sat in silence, though they had been in separate rooms. Sasuke had never once heard the sound of the TV come on, and he didn't think that Itachi even liked listening to music. It was altogether possible that Itachi had been beating himself up, just as Sasuke had been doing. ("Possible" being the key word in that sentence).

Acting on impulse, Sasuke sighed lightly and uncurled himself from his uncomfortable position. He pressed himself close to Itachi's side, and rested his head on his brother's shoulder. Itachi put an arm around him, but it was too cautious and too filled with such a raw gratefulness to really be a comfort. Sasuke's face flushed slightly. This did not mean that he was forgiving his brother at all. He just didn't want to be needlessly cold to him anymore. "Aren't the Akatsuki missing you?" he asked quietly.

"I don't always have to be among them," Itachi explained. "And they haven't given me anything else to do for the past couple of days."

"Are they getting impatient?" Sasuke wondered. They still wanted Itachi to kill him, didn't they? Or did they? Had it really been just a lie?

"Don't worry about that."

Sasuke closed his eyes. Somehow, he felt as if this heavy weight were pressing upon him from all sides, compressing him into a tiny insignificant thing. In a way, it was as if nothing mattered at all, and yet, Sasuke struggled bitterly against his bindings. He wanted things to be okay again, somehow. With Itachi, and Naruto, and life in general. "Do you still think that I will have to become a member of the Akatsuki in order to stay alive?" he asked.

In Itachi's silence, Sasuke could sense his brother's hesitance. So. Itachi didn't know either. "I've been thinking..." Sasuke continued in a near whisper. Yes, he'd been doing a lot of thinking.... "I won't become one of them, Itachi. At first, I thought I could do it... if... it meant being with you. But I don't want to be a part of that. I don't like the Akatsuki. I won't be one of them." Sasuke thought, it was probably the first real firm decision he'd ever made on his own in his life. And if he was going to finally stop running away, he'd probably be making many more of those in the near future. He still didn't know what to do about Itachi though. Childishly, selfishly, Sasuke wanted to keep him. And yet....

Itachi was quiet for such a long moment, and Sasuke waited, because it seemed like there was something his brother wanted to say. "I was given a new assignment today," Itachi finally spoke. "They want me to kill Naruto too now. They think that since I can get close to you, I can get close to him too. It wouldn't be all that difficult really."

Sasuke slid away and stared up at his brother in growing horror. He didn't even try to shake Itachi's arm off his shoulders. "Itachi...." Itachi was going to kill Naruto? He was _really _going to kill Naruto? It was alarming to hear such cold words coming out of Itachi's mouth. Because Sasuke knew Itachi wouldn't hesitate. If he set his mind to it, his brother _would_ kill.

"Sasuke," Itachi said gently, reaching over and squeezing his hand. "Calm down. I'm not going to do it."

Sasuke felt his thoughts swirl dizzyingly. His breathing was coming out kind of uneven now too. He'd never had a panic attack come on quite like that before. Probably Itachi's words had affected him so much because of the fact that Sasuke had just gotten done seeing Naruto so beat up in the hospital. Naruto smiling so stupidly. And Itachi, so unfeelingly talking about killing him. "Y-you're not?" Sasuke asked, confused. Maybe this was why it was so much easier to run away from things, he decided. Because Sasuke had never before fallen into such a dizzying level of emotions - at least, not since his family had been killed. It was preferable to just feel nothing, as opposed to this.

"No," Itachi replied, his eyes softening.

Sasuke took a deep breath, and scooted close again. "Why?" he demanded after a moment of trying to collect his thoughts. "You don't even like Naruto."

Itachi did not answer to that right away. Instead, he silently pulled his younger brother closer to him, until Sasuke was actually in his lap. It was kind of embarrassing. Itachi closed his own eyes now, and bowed his head over Sasuke's right shoulder, nuzzling his nose against Sasuke's skin. He hid his face there like that as he spoke. "Isn't it obvious?" he muttered. "You don't want Naruto to die. So... if it came between going against you, or going against the Akatsuki...." He trailed off.

"You would rather have them mad at you, than me?"

"Of course," Itachi replied simply. "I wouldn't want you to be unhappy." He lifted his face again. "I love you Sasuke."

For the first time since that night two days before, Sasuke kissed him. He did love his brother. He would always love his brother, even if Itachi took away everything that he had.

* * *

That night, Sasuke was roused to a light touch gently shaking him awake, but it was not his brother. Sasuke had spent time with Itachi in the living room earlier, after their little talk, and then had finally retreated back into his room for bed. But he was surprised to wake up to find a pair of _blue_ eyes staring down at him. "Mn. Naruto?" After a short confused moment, he sat up in bed. "What-? How did you get in?"

"Tsunade Hag released me from the hospital just now. I thought you - well, I wanted you to be the first person to know so.... Itachi let me in." Naruto smiled sheepishly, and his face took on a slightly guilty expression. "It was really scary," he admitted. "I thought he was going to kill me." Naruto laughed lightly, but Sasuke didn't really find it particularly funny.

"I'm surprised let you come in here and shut the door," Sasuke commented, glancing over at said door. He wondered if Itachi were angry. Sasuke could imagine him seething in the living room. "He probably thinks you're in here trying to seduce me."

Naruto grinned playfully. "Nah. I wouldn't do that unless you wanted me to."

Silence.

Naruto blinked in surprise. "Oi. What's wrong with you Sasuke-teme? You didn't get mad."

Sasuke felt his eyes narrow suspiciously. "Are you _trying_ to make me angry?" he asked.

"I'm trying to get a normal response outta you." Sasuke looked at him as if to ask, _what is that supposed to mean?_ "You're not acting like yourself Sasuke."

Sasuke considered that for a moment, then brought his knees up so that he could wrap his arms around his legs again. It was a position he was already beginning to get used to. "Maybe that's for the best."

He felt Naruto's eyes on him for a moment. "You're really trying to change aren't you?" the blonde guy asked.

Sasuke scoffed lightly. "I don't think I have much choice in the matter."

Another moment of quiet followed. _Are we still rivals now Naruto?_ Sasuke thought tiredly. Somehow, he didn't think they were. Then again, maybe they never had been in the first place.

Naruto glanced over to the bedroom door. "Think Itachi'll get mad if I stay the night?" he asked, somewhat anxiously.

Sasuke shrugged. "Probably."

Blue eyes met him questioningly. "Will _you_ get mad if I stay the night?"

"Tch. Just shut up and lay down dobe." Sasuke pulled the covers up for him, and Naruto's earlier grin returned as he crawled under.

"No cuddling," Sasuke snapped a few minutes later, when Naruto tried snuggling happily close to him.

"Aw, but Sasukeeee~" he whined. "I thought you were trying to change."

"I haven't changed _that_ much. Not yet at least. I think hell will freeze over before I willingly cuddle with anything."

Naruto pouted, eyes pleading. "No," Sasuke said again. Naruto grinned, and finally relented.


	13. The End Begins For Us, Niisan

_**A/N: **This chapter is chock-full of suspense, angst, and more suspense. I hope it didn't end up sounding too... cheesy or fake (since I'm having a bit of a writing lull), but hey, I tried. T^T_

_p.s. Forget about the chapter titles being from Itachi's POV. I wonder why I even thought that mattered...?_

.:The_End_Begins_Nii-san:.

* * *

Sasuke knew the instant he opened his eyes that something was very wrong. It was dark, but the bedroom door was open, and dim light was shining in from the living room. He could feel a weight on the bed to his left, near his legs - Itachi was sitting next to him, turned away so that Sasuke could not see his face. And there was something else - something pressing against Sasuke's other side... something warm and wet and sticky where Naruto should have been. The metallic stench of blood was heavy in the air.

In an instant, Sasuke took it all in. In one short moment he knew exactly what had happened. And Itachi turned to him, to stare down at him with the same look that had been on his face the night he'd killed their family. It was the look of one who'd accomplished a job well done.

* * *

When Sasuke awoke from his dream - because yes, thankfully, it had been just a dream - Naruto was not there, and that nearly sent the younger Uchiha into another one of those sudden panic attacks. Sasuke lay there for a moment, to catch his breath, trying to convince himself that Itachi wouldn't do something like that. He wouldn't kill Naruto when Sasuke was just in the other room sleeping, would he? Somehow, Sasuke just couldn't convince himself of that. It was altogether likely that Itachi _had _killed him. How could Sasuke have been so stupid as to fall asleep with the two of them so close together?

Strange enough as it was, Sasuke found the dobe in the living room reading manga on the couch... with Itachi sitting in the chair just a few feet away. Naruto, ever the early bird, had simply gotten up before him it appeared, and apparently he'd gotten bored. Silently, Sasuke cursed himself and Naruto too, for making him worry dammit. He sighed heavily, and ran his fingers through his hair. Itachi and Naruto both looked up at him simultaneously. Naruto grinned when he saw him.

Sasuke wondered at that. Usually the dobe became nervous at the mere _mention_ of Itachi, and yet there he was, stretched out so casually just five feet from him. As for Itachi, Sasuke's brother seemed to have been sitting and staring incredulously at Naruto. He looked frustrated, too. If Sasuke hadn't been so panicked just moments before, he would have found that funny. Probably, Naruto's infectious attitude confused Itachi as much as it did Sasuke himself.

"'Morning Sasuke-teme!" Naruto called happily, and Itachi gave the blonde boy's back a particularly nasty look. He'd never heard Naruto refer to Sasuke as a bastard like that before, though Sasuke himself was already used to it.

"Mm," Sasuke replied tiredly. Now that he knew that everything was perfectly alright - and that Itachi _hadn't_ done something evil to Naruto during the night - he kind of just felt like going back to bed. Sasuke wasn't ready to face life again just yet. He sleepily made his way to the kitchen.

"Sasuke," Itachi chided a few minutes later. Shit. Sasuke had hoped that his brother wouldn't notice him making the coffee - at least not until the pot was on anyway. Sasuke was all tense now, and his nerves were still shaken up from the nightmare. He wasn't used to having nightmares, but apparently things like that happened to everybody - even Uchihas. Anyway, he was in desperate need for some kind of stress reliever, and coffee again would just have to do.

"Don't bug me about it Itachi," Sasuke muttered under his breath. He knew his brother could hear him.

Still, Sasuke silently promised himself not to drink too much.

He was finally just fixing himself a cup - at the apparent disapproval of both Itachi _and_ Naruto - when there was a knock at the door. For a moment, the three occupants of the apartment looked around at one another in surprise. And then Itachi was rushing for Sasuke's bedroom door, and Sasuke felt his heart rate jump a bit. He wasn't sure what made him so nervous. Maybe it was because Itachi was there, and the slight chance that he might get caught. Maybe someone had finally noticed him coming and going from Sasuke's apartment.

In any case, Sasuke felt a sense of short lived relief when he opened the door and found Iruka of all people standing there.

The man seemed embarrassed to find himself on Sasuke's doorstep. He smiled, and ran his fingers through his hair nervously as he spoke. "Uh... excuse me, Sasuke-kun. I was looking for Naruto, but he wasn't at home, and then I heard that he might be _here_." Rumors were spreading like crazy around town - Sasuke was not unaware of them. Already he and the dobe were being classified _together_. Ugh. So much ugh.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied, his tense muscles relaxing somewhat - Iruka was only here to see _Naruto_. All this stress was really getting to him. He took a long drink of coffee. "He's here."

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called happily over to the man as soon as he was inside. And a grin uncannily like Naruto's broke out on Iruka's face.

"Naruto," the man greeted. "I was wondering if you wanted me to treat you to ramen today, in celebration of your getting out of the hospital."

Naruto whooped happily at that, and Sasuke just continued to watch tiredly. In a way, he was the tiniest bit relieved to be having the dobe taken off his hands for a while - Naruto was too loud for so early in the day.

And so, the dobe said a quick goodbye to Sasuke and he was out the door. "Ja, Sasuke," Iruka said, and Sasuke simply nodded in acknowledgement.

Once the immediate danger of the situation was over, Itachi emerged from Sasuke's bedroom again. Then he walked directly over to Sasuke, and promptly took the coffee out of his younger brother's hands. This time, Sasuke was too tired to do much more than scowl. Didn't Itachi think that he could take care of himself? The over protective older brother facade could be irritating.

"You look exhausted," Itachi said, setting the mug down on the kitchen counter. Suddenly, the elder brother scooped Sasuke up in his arms like a child, and carried him over to the couch. Sasuke blushed brightly. Itachi always knew exactly how to get to him - probably, Itachi was the only one who could ever be so domineering over the younger Uchiha, and get away with it.

Itachi chuckled lightly at the look on Sasuke's face, and together the two of them settled into a comfortable laid-out position. Sasuke, his head resting on his brother's chest, closed his eyes and exhaled sleepily. Itachi held him close to keep him warm - the mornings were getting colder. "Sleep, little brother. I'll be here when you wake."

And no, Sasuke decided, he did _not_ consider _this _cuddling - and anyone who said otherwise was likely to get the Glare of Certain Death.

"Hey Itachi," Sasuke said quietly after a minute.

"Yes?"

Sasuke wanted to ask his brother if he ever had nightmares, too. But the words sounded so childish, and Sasuke couldn't force them up out of his throat. Besides, Itachi was a clan-killing hired assassin, and he did his job with a cool reserve that made Sasuke think it was near impossible that _he_ could have troubling dreams. "Never mind," Sasuke said with a little scoff - the scoff was for himself, for being stupid.

That was just it though. Itachi knew how to make Sasuke feel like such a child. It was... strange, and sometimes when Sasuke thought about it, embarrassing. He didn't like feeling small and helpless.

He would never admit to anybody, ever, that sometimes - _just_ sometimes - he thought, it was okay to drop those barriers. Because Itachi was his brother, and knew everything about him already. Whenever Sasuke was weak, Itachi would be the one to protect him. Sometimes Sasuke thought, maybe he liked it a little. Maybe he was glad that his brother treated him like a child. Because, lying there, listening to Itachi's breathing, made Sasuke feel safe.

Pride would never let him admit it, of course.

Sasuke drifted to these thoughts, with Itachi stroking his face and playing with his hair in contented silence.

* * *

There was something about Itachi... Naruto just couldn't quite put his finger on it. Again it had been scary, when he had woken that morning bored and hungry. Naruto had thought, he still had a few ramen cups in Sasuke's kitchen from where they'd gone over to his apartment for food those nights before - that time seemed like so long ago now. And so, he'd gotten up that morning at the growling insistence of his stomach.

Sasuke had still been sleeping soundly, and it was kind of cute how the guy's usually perfect hair was mused. Naruto would never place Sasuke as a tosser-turner in his sleep, but the other guy had began to move around a little. Maybe that just meant he was about to wake up. It was so... cute; in a weirdly un-Uchiha-like manner. Though Sasuke would probably kill him quite unmercifully if Naruto ever said something like that out loud.

So, Naruto was smiling as he left the bedroom, only to turn and, in shock, find an equally shocked_ older_ Uchiha standing there. They stared at one another for a long moment in surprise. Really - how in the hell had Naruto managed to forget that _Itachi_ was there?

Cautiously, Naruto made his way over to the kitchen, very nearly _literally_ tiptoeing around Itachi. Then, he'd made his ramen, and quickly wolfed it down, glancing in the living room at the man. Apparently Itachi had decided that he was _not _going to kill him - for the time being, at least - still....

After the ramen, Naruto had considered retreating back to Sasuke's room, but he hadn't particularly felt like going back to sleep, and anything else might have woken Sasuke up. So, Naruto retrieved one of his manga, and -staring wide-eyed at Itachi, who only stared blankly back - shuffled into the living room. Once on the couch and red in the face, Naruto hid behind his book, and soon the awkwardness of the situation was forgotten.

Thinking back on it now, with Iruka at his side, Naruto found it kind of funny. He smiled a little, but really, at the time it hadn't been amusing at all.

"So when did you and Sasuke start getting along so well Naruto?" Iruka asked pleasantly.

"Uhh... recently." Naruto smiled anxiously. Judging by the look on Iruka-sensei's face, he could tell that there were things Naruto was holding back. Usually, whenever the man was around, Naruto confided in him about all his thoughts and the goings on in his life. Obviously, with Itachi in the picture, that wasn't option this time around.

But Iruka, with the gentle motherly/fatherly nature of his, did not question him about it of course. Instead, he simply smiled, and said, "Ah. Well I'm happy for you Naruto. However much you say you hate him, I know you've wanted to be friends with Sasuke for a long time."

Naruto laughed a little, but felt his face flush. How could he possibly tell his former sensei that it was so much more than just _friendship_ he wanted from Sasuke...? Being that Iruka was in a similar relationship with Kakashi, Naruto knew that it wasn't like he would mind at all. Still, he had kept it from him this long already, and Naruto wasn't quite prepared to admit it out loud yet anyway.

The orders of ramen were pushed in front of them then - "On the house," Ichiraku insisted gravely; he and Ayame had been worried about Naruto since he'd been hospitalized - and conversation fell to silence as Naruto was left to his thoughts again.

It was weird. There was something there... something about Itachi that Naruto just didn't quite _get_. Would the guy really hold back from killing him (Naruto) just at the insistence of Sasuke? A guy like that seemed like he would stop at nothing to keep Sasuke for himself. He was the type that would even go against Sasuke's wishes if it came to that, without a second thought. And yet, when Naruto showed up at the apartment the night before, and when he'd been in the living room with Itachi that morning, the man had only looked at him, without saying a word. Was it really just because he knew Sasuke would be upset?

Somehow, Naruto sensed... that Itachi _did _love Sasuke. In his own way. And he was trying. Itachi was trying hard to be the kind of guy that Sasuke would want him to be. Right?

But it's not like that would change the fact that Itachi was evil. He was still a threat, in Naruto's eyes. He could still so easily break Sasuke down, even if he wasn't trying to. Because that was just the kind of person he was. Itachi would step on people, and he would go doing things his own way without little or no consideration for the thoughts of others. And Itachi didn't know how to _deal _with Sasuke besides. The man had been out of Sasuke's life for the past _eight years_ and he obviously still saw Sasuke as the little brother he had been back then. He didn't know how to handle Sasuke the way he was now. He would continue to treat him like a child, and make most decisions for him.

Evil is in Itachi's nature. Hence the reason why he'd killed their entire family all those years ago, rather than enduring whatever he'd been going through, with Sasuke at his side. Rather than thinking of how Sasuke would feel, Itachi instead had come to the conclusion that killing their family was what was best at the time. Maybe there had been something going on there that Naruto still didn't know about - some factor of their lives that was secret to him. But even so, Naruto thought, it was more just a part of who Itachi was.

All that aside, the dude kills people for a living. Of course he's going to be evil. Or at least, that was Naruto's way of thinking.

Sasuke still didn't see it. Or maybe he did and had just convinced himself it wasn't there. For some reason, he was going along with his brother's game, and Sasuke was skipping right into a place where Itachi could break him. Depending on whatever happened next, Sasuke would either come to realize these things about his brother on his own, or he would be crushed, and fall apart. And if _that_ happened, Naruto didn't think that there was much he would be able to do to help him.

* * *

Unfortunately, the peace and quiet of the apartment only lasted about thirty minutes, because then there was even _another_ knock at the door. The sound woke Sasuke up from his sleep like a gunshot going off, and he sat straight up in Itachi's arms, startled. Again, there was that moment of quiet confusion, as the two brothers looked at one another and wondered who in the world would be at the door. "Popular," Itachi noted after that short moment, and Sasuke groaned inwardly.

When Sasuke saw that it was Kakashi standing there, he half considered just slamming the door in his teacher's face. Probably, that wouldn't be a good idea, but outside of school, Kakashi was Sasuke's sensei no more. It was bad enough that he had had to put up with the man at school, and at the hospital. Kakashi could really push Sasuke's buttons. He was _annoying_.

As it was, Sasuke decided against slamming the door - after all, Kakashi _might_ not mean any harm - but still couldn't keep the frown from his face. He could still be napping, warm in Itachi's arms - as completely... girly... as that sounded of him. Ugh. What was all of this turning him into?

"Yo," Kakashi greeted happily, one hand raised in salute. "You look a little rough for wear this morning Sasuke. Wake up on the wrong side of the bed did you?" And he had the nerve to smile the entire time he said it.

"Ugh," Sasuke said out loud, turning from the door. He let Kakashi let himself in. "What do you want?" he demanded shortly, grabbing up his coffee cup again and pouring himself some fresh. Screw Itachi and his rules - Sasuke would drink his caffeine, and he would like it, thank you very much.

"Actually I just came here to talk to you," Kakashi said with a smile, making himself at home on the couch.

Sasuke eyed him suspiciously from the kitchen doorway. "As a cop?" he asked.

Kakashi grinned behind his mask. "You got it," he replied. "But I think we know each other well enough by now to skip the formalities. I just have to ask you a few things."

The tiniest bit worried now - because Itachi was just in the next room away again - Sasuke sat down in the chair near the couch, and sighed heavily. He refused to show that he was anxious. Because that would only make him look suspicious wouldn't it? "You got Iruka to come and get rid of Naruto so that you could talk to me, right?"

"True enough," Kakashi said pleasantly. "So, right down to business then?"

"Might as well get it over with," Sasuke agreed. "What do you have to ask me that you can't say with Naruto around?"

"Naruto worries too much." The silver haired man hesitated, as if he were trying to figure out how to word what he wanted to say. "You know... you've been acting pretty strangely lately, Sasuke. First your growing amount of absences from school, and then those marks all over you - but you're a teenage boy with_ raging_ hormones, so I guess I won't ask too much about those...." He just smiled as Sasuke's face reddened, and the Uchiha gritted his teeth, a vein on his forehead throbbing in annoyance. "But then... Naruto skipped a day with you just before he was attacked right? And you've been getting picked up and dropped off at school, and at the hospital, by a certain car...."

"Why don't you just get to the point," Sasuke interrupted, a sick feeling rising inside his stomach. It was true that, the day before when Sasuke had left the hospital, Kakashi had been sitting just outside of Naruto's room door (reading Icha Icha, of course). At the time, Sasuke had hoped that the man hadn't caught anything that he and Naruto had been talking about, but now he wondered....

"Sasuke," Kakashi said, suddenly becoming serious now. He sat up, and leaned forward a little, his one uncovered eye staring at Sasuke gravely. "If there's something else about the situation that you know about, it would be best for you to tell me. Naruto nearly died the other day. You wouldn't be protecting the one who is responsible, would you?"

Sasuke felt his eyes widen just a little. It didn't really matter if he looked anxious now or not - he was a suspect anyway. "You heard what me and Naruto were talking about yesterday didn't you?" he guessed.

Kakashi glanced over at Sasuke's bedroom door wordlessly, and Sasuke felt the palms of his hands start to sweat.

Out of the two teachers, Iruka was more like Naruto than Kakashi ever was, and yet, like Naruto, Kakashi sometimes saw far, far too much.

Suddenly there was a loud_** bang!**_ as the front door burst open. Sasuke and Kakashi jumped to their feet, and there in the doorway, was none other than the blonde headed Deidara himself, pushing some of that long hair back out of his face. "'Morning!" he said cheerfully, and laughed.

"Deidara...?" Sasuke said, too shocked to really do much else.

Before there was even time to think, that redheaded guy - Sasori? - rushed into the room, and as if the two of them had acted on some unknown cue, Itachi burst out of Sasuke's bedroom at exactly the same time. They met head-on, kunai pushing against kunai. "Itachi!" Sasuke exclaimed, and started toward his brother, but Kakashi suddenly grabbed him and dragged him to the wall near the kitchen. Unthinkingly, Sasuke tried to run forward again, but Kakashi held him back protectively. "No, Sasuke," the man said roughly.

Itachi was pulling a gun out of his coat now. Sasuke stared wide-eyed; he hadn't known that his brother had such a thing. Not many people owned guns - Sasuke had never actually seen one up close with his eyes before. "Ah-ah," Deidara said, still cheerful, as he watched the scene unfold. The blonde guy closed the door easily behind him, and laughed again. "Guns are too loud - you'll wake the neighbors." He glanced over at Sasuke then, and for one short moment, Sasuke was caught up in that stare. He'd never seen Deidara like this. Something about him was different than before. The guy winked at him, and Kakashi, noticing this exchange, pulled Sasuke farther behind him again.

Itachi threw his gun to the couch, where it rested harmlessly. What was he doing? Why was he listening to what Deidara was saying?

Itachi and Sasori continued to struggle - Itachi scowling, but the redhead staring into his face wide-eyes and expressionless. "You," Deidara said suddenly, and Sasuke's eyes moved back to him for a moment. He was getting kind of dizzy, as his eyes were trying to watch everything at once. Suddenly, Deidara was there, in Kakashi's face. "Was going to wait until _you_ left," he said with a smirk, "but that wouldn't have been as much fun, hn?" The guy's voice had changed. Sasuke was reminded of that night, when he'd listened in on Deidara and Itachi in the kitchen.

Sasuke was right there, so he saw it happen - everything was going on so fast here, and his mind, racing to catch up, just seemed to be slowing down. His senses were heightened somehow, and it threw everything into a strange alien-like appearance. Sasuke could very literally feel his world turning around.

Deidara reached out and put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "Boom!" the blonde guy said quietly with a happy smile, and the air between the two men just... exploded. It was a quiet explosion, so for just a moment, Sasuke wasn't sure it had even happened. He'd seen the fire in the air, heard the quite sound of a small bomb going off, and the smoke was there.

Sasuke himself was pushed against the wall by the force of the tiny blast, and Kakashi collapsed into a heap on the floor at Sasuke's feet. Sasuke stared. All this was happening so... _fast_.... He didn't have time to react.

Deidara was grinning. "...You're like a different person," Sasuke said quietly. Really, he was in shock. He just said the first numb thought that came to mind.

"That's just part of my charm," Deidara replied laughingly, and grabbed Sasuke around his waist, pulling him close. "You should have left your brother to be with me, hn? What do you think?" Sasuke could feel cold steel against his skin as Deidara ran a small knife or kunai up and under his shirt. The weapon pressed only easy enough to make a thin scratch against Sasuke's skin, as it moved along his stomach and up to his chest. "But that doesn't matter now I guess," Deidara said. "He'll be gone soon enough, and I'll have you all to myself."

"Sasuke," Itachi growled, and Sasuke, stunned, watched as his brother was slammed up against the opposite wall by Sasori. Itachi resisted for a moment, but the redhead was doing a good job of holding him down.

Deidara was watching as well, except he was smiling again. It was the strangest half-crazed look on his face. Suddenly the blonde guy dropped Sasuke, and said Uchiha's legs nearly gave out beneath him. Well, that had never happened before. There was a first time for everything. Somehow, Sasuke was only taking note of the strangest things - and he knew he was doing it too. He thought, maybe his mind was too stunned to really pay attention to the more important matters. He didn't want to know that this was happening - he couldn't concentrate on it.

Deidara crossed the room over to the other two, picking up Itachi's gun on the way over, and Sasuke cringed with what he knew was about to come. Deidara easily took Sasori's place with keeping Itachi pinned where he was, and the blonde grinned as he placed the gun directly onto Itachi's forehead. "You should have gotten the job done yourself, hn?"

"Nii-san!" Sasuke screamed without thinking. When was the last time he had actually even called Itachi that...?

And Deidara pulled the trigger.

* * *


	14. For the Last

.:For_the_Last:.

* * *

This time, Sasuke's legs _did_ give out, but be it from relief or just from being scared, he didn't know. His breath left his lungs quietly, and he sank to his knees on the floor.

Apparently Itachi had moved his head out of the way at the last second, because now he was leaning heavily to the right in Deidara's grasp, and a fresh bullet hole was in the wall six inches or so from his face. Sasuke wasn't quite sure how he had managed that. And Sasuke wasn't quite sure how one could _miss_ when the gun was pressed to the target's forehead, either. There were a few options that were possible, he thought.... Either A) Deidara had done it on purpose, B) Deidara sucked at his job, or C) Itachi was very, very good.

Sasuke was going for C.

"Tch," Deidara scoffed lightly. He glowered at Itachi hatefully.

That gunshot... had been loud. The neighbors would have heard. Yes, the neighbors would call the police. And the police would come, but... would they be any help? Sasuke stared down at the form of Kakashi, lying still and quiet on the floor next to him now. Was he dead? Sasuke wanted to check and see - he ordered his body to move, so that he could figure out if Kakashi were still breathing or not. But his limbs did not react at all. He was still in shock, and he couldn't move.

"He's here," Sasori said suddenly, and Deidara half-turned to the other guy. The redhead was standing at one of the windows with the curtain held back a bit, staring intensely out the glass.

"Feh." Deidara grinned in Itachi's face. "Guess who's coming now, hn?" he said.

"Naruto," Sasuke said quietly. That was all he said. That was as loud as he could get it out, but inside, his mind was screaming. _Naruto, Naruto, Naruto! _If thoughts could only force someone away....

Deidara smiled over at _him_ now, his grin returning to the silly way it usually was - for just a moment - but his eyes still had that light in them. "You got it," the guy said.

Sasori was moving over to the door now, but Deidara called out to stop him. "No," the blonde said, and did he never stop smiling? "Sasuke can answer it."

"What?" Sasuke whispered numbly. He was looking his brother right in the eyes, and by the look on Itachi's face... there was nothing he could do.

Sasori hesitated, then nodded. In silence he strode over to Sasuke, and pulled him up roughly by his arm. "Sasuke," Deidara told him seriously. "When Naruto comes to the door, you are going to answer it. You'll do it, or I'll shoot your dear brother again. And _this _time, I won't miss." Deidara shoved the gun into Itachi's side, causing Sasuke's brother to grunt in pain. "I think I'll start here," Deidara said happily.

Suddenly there was a loud, happy knock at the door, and Sasori shoved Sasuke forward. "Sasuke-temeee~" Naruto called, a grin in his voice.

"Naruto," Sasuke heard Iruka scold him lightly.

"What? I _know_ he's in there. Hey bastard! Come to the door!"

Sasori shoved him again, harder. Sasuke couldn't feel his feet. He thought he was going to puke. "Sasuke," Deidara hissed, and Sasuke glanced over at him with widened eyes. The guy was pushing the gun with more pressure into Itachi's side, and the older Uchiha was watching Sasuke with deep, knowing eyes. "Do it," Deidara ordered in a whisper.

"I-I can't," Sasuke said in normal tones.

"Oi!" Naruto called, pounding his fist against the door. "I can hear you in there Sasuke, don't ignore me!"

Deidara growled under his breath. "Sasori, get them in here," he commanded, and the redhead nodded again, and stood in a way so that, when he opened the door, the people on the outside would not see him. Sasuke wanted to _do_ something - he wanted to shout, or give Naruto some kind of warning, but he was completely frozen again. Where was his voice? Had he ever had one? He couldn't find it now.

Sasori swung the door open, and the morning light flooded in, blinding Sasuke's eyes. "Sasuke...?" Naruto asked, a confused little smile fading away into a worried frown. It must have been an unusual sight - the door swung open by unseen hands, and Sasuke, standing a few feet back looking... a wreck. And Naruto's eyes went to something on the ground behind him. "What's that...?" he asked, stepping inside.

"Kakashi?!" Iruka exclaimed, running in past Naruto.

Sasori slammed the door shut behind the two of them, and Naruto spun on his heels, coming face to face with the dangerous redhead. The sound of another gunshot went off, and Sasuke jumped, turning in shock as Itachi fell to his knees, gasping in pain. Deidara was grinning wildly. "I told you I would," he said, laughing in a carefree sort of way. "Think carefully, Sasuke. You and Naruto both would be a nice little addition to our cause. Why don't you just give in and join us, hn?"

"Kakashi!" Iruka was crying again, and he was on the floor at the man's side now, but Sasuke could not turn to look at them. There were only two people that Sasuke could see - his fallen brother, and Naruto. Sasori punched Naruto in the stomach, and wide-eyed, Naruto doubled over.

"Kakashi!" Iruka said once more, but his voice had a ring of relief in it this time, and Sasuke spun in the instant to see that the silver haired man was sitting up in pain. The front of Kakashi's left shoulder was shredded in a way one wouldn't expect a bomb to cause. That part of the man's shirt was burnt and blackened, stained with blood.

And that was when the first of the (physical) pain began for Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" Itachi and Naruto exclaimed and coughed simultaneously. Deidara had abandoned Itachi's side, obviously thinking that the man was harmless now that he was injured, and was grinning in Sasuke's face before he even had time to blink. The next thing he knew, the world went black, and after a moment of struggling into consciousness - he must have only been out for a second - Sasuke opened his eyes to see that he had ended up in the floor.

He was dizzy, but he managed to pull himself up, and somehow, everything had gone silent. Even as he saw Naruto gritting his teeth and fighting the hold that Sasori had on him, even as Itachi struggled to his feet in pain, Sasuke couldn't hear a thing. It was as if someone had shut off his ears, and that was when he realized -- oh, another bomb. Deidara had set off another bomb, this time, for Sasuke. And yet Sasuke didn't feel any pain, and other than having the wind knocked out of him and the weird hearing malfunction, he didn't appear to be injured at all.

He looked up at Deidara, and tried to read the man's lips as he spoke, but really, he had no idea what the guy was saying. Naruto seemed to be becoming more violent with Sasori, but the redhead had a tight grip on him and wasn't letting go. Itachi was leaning against the wall for support, his facial features contorted in pain as he held his side. Blood was trickling from in between his fingers, and Sasuke stared with horrified eyes.

He was brought to his feet again by Deidara, picked up like a sack of dead weight and held close. Sasuke cringed away as Deidara's face came close to his, and slowly, slowly, sounds returned - and they were _loud._

At first the noises were quiet - muffled, like whispers in his ears, but then they became more prominent. Sasuke's ears popped, and everything hit him at once. Naruto was screaming in anger and frustration, Iruka was crying, and Itachi was gasping loudly. Awful sounds that hurt his ears.

Deidara's lips pressed roughly to his, and the turning upside-down of Sasuke's world was then complete.

* * *

Later on, in a time when all of this was already long over, Naruto would think back and wonder what the others all saw, when _his_ vision went red.

In the present, Naruto wasn't sure what was going on here. All he knew was that Sasuke was hurt, Kakashi was hurt, and these two weird guys were the ones causing all the pain. It didn't feel good when that red-haired guy hit him. It was heartbreaking for him to see a look like that on Sasuke's face - the Uchiha's skin faded to a sickly pale color, eyes lost and distant and dead. When Naruto saw Kakashi-sensei lying there, face down on the floor, and then once he _realized _that it was Kakashi-sensei, it was shocking. Mind-numbing.

But this was different.... Someone had their hands on Sasuke. Someone was hurting Sasuke. Someone was _kissing_ Sasuke - and Sasuke was crying, and there was a stream of blood running down his chin from where the other guy was biting so hard.

And Naruto just... snapped.

This had never happened before - not quite like this. Not to _this _extent. He'd gotten angry in the past, and plenty of bad things had happened to him, but this sense... of _strength_ that came over him hit him like a brick to his chest. The sense of being really strong and powerful, it came to him in separate forces that pushed away from his body like hot air, waves that crashed over him one at a time, and slowly at first. It was almost to the point where it was painful.

He completely lost it at that point. He would remember being vaguely aware of screaming, though whether it had been from pain or anger he would never be quite sure. He would remember finally jerking out of that redhead's grasp, and having no time to _deal _with him. He would remember the moment when he separated that blonde dude from Sasuke's lips - quite forcefully.

And Naruto wouldn't remember any images after that - what had happened, what he had done, he would only know by hearing Sasuke and some of the others tell him about it later on. He would remember the _feelings_ though. The intense building anger, the hate, the want to just _kill_.

And it wouldn't be until later, sometime after that day, when Naruto fully realized what had happened to him. Kyuubi had decided to come out to play.

* * *

Shocking. It was really... the only term that one could place to the turn of events that had occurred in Sasuke's apartment this day. Though the word didn't really quite do it justice. Appalling, traumatizing, devastating... however you wanted to put it.

In an explosion of weird red and blue... _something_ (a dangerous sort of aura that clung to Naruto's body) the boy just... went wild. Sasuke had never seen _anything _like it. The stun from before had almost been nothing compared to the absolute shock and confusion that came with seeing Naruto suddenly sprout fangs and whiskers and tear his way out of Sasori's grip. Naruto, who, moments before couldn't even push himself away from the redhead, grabbed Deidara and _flung_ him away forcefully.

It frightened Sasuke as much as it confused him, because... those blue eyes had turned to red, and he'd never hoped to see something like that. With one crazed glance at Sasuke, Naruto backed up against him, crouching in a weirdly animal-like protective sort of way.

Sasuke wiped the blood from his chin, and a few tears along with it. He really hadn't realized he'd been crying. From the place where he had hit the wall and sank to the floor, Deidara cursed loudly, and Naruto sprang at him, only to collide with Sasori, who'd rushed him again suddenly. The two rolled around like fighting dogs for a few minutes, with everyone else's surprised eyes upon them, but inevitably, Naruto emerged the victorious. He was able to get out of Sasori's grasp, and make a run for Deidara again, who had only just gotten to his feet. Apparently the breath had been stolen out of him.

It was the strangest thing. That weird aura was still surrounding Naruto like... some kind of alien creature giving him strength, and Sasuke was too caught off guard by Naruto's sudden assault to even wonder what it was.

The next set of events happened very, very quickly. One moment, Deidara was there, and Naruto was there, and the next, Iruka was there - surprisingly enough. Sasuke saw it happen in that weird slow motion way again, as Naruto knocked Deidara to the ground, and took the sides of the guy's face in his hands. In that moment one numb thought had made it through Sasuke's shock - that Naruto was going to snap Deidara's neck.... And then Iruka was pulling Naruto away from the man, and Deidara slumped over, unconscious from a blow to the head by Iruka's fist. Wow.

Sasori was up again, but one of his legs appeared to be injured, and despite that, he was rushing at Iruka's back when Naruto was upon him again. Kakashi was standing now, and, breathing hard, he joined Naruto in the fight.

It was over almost before it began, ending with Sasori all tied up and looking frustrated and angry, and Naruto standing above the redhead with eyes ready to kill. Sasuke kept his gaze on Naruto as Kakashi held the boy back, and slowly, slowly, the red left the irises of Naruto's eyes. After a moment, he suddenly wilted, as if exhausted, and when he pushed away, Kakashi let him go. The first thing that Naruto did when he came to his senses -- he looked directly up at Sasuke, breathing hard, and asked, "Sasuke... are you alright?"

In all honestly, Sasuke felt... completely useless. The fighting was over, and all he'd done was stand around and watch while everyone got hurt. Even _Iruka_, the kindergarten school teacher, had had his part to play - and yet the former Great and Scary Avenger Uchiha had done... nothing.

He did not answer Naruto. He simply stood there in that one spot, and watched while Iruka helped Kakashi strip Deidara of all the bombs and weapons he might have on him. "Make sure you get every one," Kakashi muttered, but he cold have been talking to himself.

Once the two of them finally finished, a small pile of tiny white bombs had accumulated on one of the kitchen counters, looking harmless but really quite threatening. "It's typical," Kakashi commented. "We only know a little, about a few of the Akatsuki members. This is Deidara, I'm guessing. He makes specialized bombs, created by himself and manufactured by the Akatsuki themselves. Their group is the only one with access to weapons like this - I've never seen anything like it." With a cautious hand, Kakashi carefully picked up one of the tiny things, and examined it in his hand. "The other guy over there - I don't know anything about him. Let's tie them up together shall we?"

And so Deidara and Sasori were bound together and nearly literally stuffed into one corner of the living room. Sasuke stood right where he was, and watched the process. Iruka and Kakashi seemed to be the only ones really moving. Itachi was crouching on the floor now, still breathing somewhat laboriously and clutching at his side. Naruto was standing near Sasuke, and he was watching as well. "Well," Kakashi said finally, once their work was done. "What should we do with them?"

"...Do you think anyone nearby called the police?" Iruka asked. "Some people must have heard that gunshot, but you'd think if the police were contacted, they'd be here by now."

"Hm. Yes. I should probably call them myself. Keep an eye on these two for a sec." Kakashi pulled out a cell phone from his pocket, and moved as if to go into the kitchen, but Iruka reached out and tugged at his sleeve to stop him.

"A-are you alright?" the man asked, and Kakashi turned back to him, pulling his mask down with a gentle smile.

"Of course," Kakashi replied, and kissed him quickly. The sight... hurt Sasuke somehow. It was... different. He didn't know what to call it. Jealousy maybe? Because he and Itachi had certainly never kissed like that. And he couldn't _believe_ that he was still thinking about such unimportant things, while his brother could very well be bleeding to death. _Kisses_... bah!

Deidara was coming awake by the time that Kakashi was in the living room again. The English teacher was just putting his phone back inside his pocket. "They did get a few calls," he said. "But apparently there's another crisis going on at the other side of town. The Akatsuki are quite good at causing _distractions_. This was panned - open fire and a bomb threat at one of the shopping marts. They just wanted to pull our eyes away from _here_ for a while, giving those two over there a little freedom for a while."

"So when will someone get here?" Iruka asked anxiously, reaching gently toward Kakashi's injured shoulder.

"Soon enough. Don't worry about that, I'm fine." Kakashi sighed a little, and glanced over at Itachi, who only stared back. "And what are we going to do with _him_?"

Still mostly dazed, Sasuke finally felt his feet move again. He walked forward, shrugging off Naruto's light attempt to hold him back, until he was standing directly between his brother and Kakashi. The silver haired man sighed again, heavily now, and shook his head. "Sasuke..." he said, and his tone was... surprisingly sympathetic.

And then there was the sound of Itachi standing up again - he grunted in pain. Sasuke turned in surprise, and watched as his brother pushed away from the wall, and stumbled forward. Itachi steadied himself, and a determined expression came across his face.

Now Sasuke had something else to be afraid of. It was that determined look there. That expression that had been in Sasuke's nightmare. Itachi was prepared to kill, and even injured he was dangerous. Who was he going after?

It wasn't until Itachi was pushing past him that Sasuke saw the gun in his hand again. He must have picked it up from the floor where Deidara had dropped it earlier. And Sasuke could do nothing to stop his brother. Itachi was walking directly over to Kakashi, staring the silver haired man in the eye....

And then he turned to point the gun directly at Deidara. By now, the blonde guy was fully conscious, and he and Sasori - who had never been unconscious in the first place - looked up at Itachi with scowls and blank eyes. "Game over, hn?" Deidara asked in frustration. "Shit."

Suddenly, Kakashi reached out, and placed a hand on the arm of Itachi's that was holding the gun. He looked like he was being cautious about it though, which was good, all things considered. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that," he said in a hard voice. Itachi glanced at him with his eyes, saying nothing, and Kakashi just stared right back, his own eyes unwavering. It was a tense moment.

Then, Itachi seemed to give in, and lowered his arm. He allowed Kakashi to take the gun from him. Finally, the older Uchiha turned to Sasuke again. Everyone's eyes were on the two of _them_ now. "I scared you," Itachi commented coldly after a moment. He looked like he was about to apologize.

Suddenly, without thinking, Sasuke stepped closer and punched his brother square in the face, startling everybody. Kakashi rushed to Sasuke's side, as if to hold him back, because no one knew what Itachi would do. How would Sasuke's brother react to something like that? But Itachi didn't do or say anything.

"Stupid," Sasuke spat at his brother. "Let go of me." He shrugged out of Kakashi's light hold. Sasuke's teacher relented and took a step back. Itachi was looking at him again, unfazed, and unspeaking. "Tch," Sasuke scoffed angrily. "Are you alright?" he demanded, gesturing the wound on Itachi's side.

"This is nothing," his brother replied simply. "I've had worse."

"Good," Sasuke said, and promptly punched him again - harder this time. "Now that I know you're going to be just _fine_, I get to hit you as many times as I want."

Sasuke wasn't angry at his brother. Not really. He was mostly angry at himself. He _needed _somebody to take it out on - as irrational as it was. He'd been so... weak and _useless_. He'd stood there in shock, unmoving even when he had the opportunities when he really could have _done_ something. No one had really held him down at all. But Sasuke had been pathetic, and instead of being strong like everyone else, he'd just fallen apart. It was fucking... disgraceful. It was embarrassing, and... Sasuke felt... so guilty. His brother was hurt, and Naruto was hurt, and Kakashi was hurt. All of them had done something useful, while the only thing that _he_ could do was get half-molested by Deidara.

Itachi's eyes did not meet his again. He stared down at the floor, but didn't look angry at all. "Hit me then," he said quietly. "As many times as you need to, Sasuke. I deserve it."

And just because of that _tone_ - just because Itachi had the _nerve_ to feel _guilty_ when _he'd_ actually _done_ something - Sasuke hit him one more time for good measure.

It was then with excellent timing that the cops finally showed; red and blue lights flashing outside the windows and all sorts of sirens going off. All was silent between the people in the apartment for a short minute, and then Kakashi abruptly reached over and whacked Sasori and Deidara upon their heads - knocking them out instantly. Then the silver haired man turned business-like toward Itachi. "If you don't want to get caught here now, I suggest you go back into that bedroom and hide before I change my mind."

The others in the room all stared, startled, at Kakashi, but the man stood there saying nothing. And then Sasuke gave Itachi a rough push. His brother nodded at Kakashi seriously, in thanks Sasuke thought, and headed for Sasuke's bedroom again.

* * *

As far as Kakashi's story went, the man mostly stuck by the truth, except that he claimed Itachi had shown up at the same time the other two Akatsuki members had, and that the Uchiha had run once he realized they were going to lose. Sasuke's therapists ended up showing their ugly faces, and pulled him aside from the rest of the commotion to "talk." When they learned that Sasuke's murderous older brother had been there - _oh_, they had a field day with questions about _that_.

Everyone had somehow managed to cram inside Sasuke's tiny apartment, but thankfully, none of them went into his bedroom. He asked them not to, for respect of his privacy. His room was the only place in the apartment that had not been effected this day, he said, and he wanted to keep it that way. Since everyone obviously expected him to be in emotional shock - not that he wasn't, entirely - they respected him much more than they would have under normal circumstances.

After a few rounds of twenty questions with the shrinks, Sasuke finally convinced the two that he was _tired_, and they left with a bunch of little comments such as "oh, of course" and "yes, you should get some rest now." Sasuke was able to sit finally - next to Naruto, as it happened, and the blonde boy was looking at him with large, worried blue eyes. It was difficult to believe that this was the same Naruto that had been on the point of snapping Deidara's neck just hours earlier. Because, yes, hours had passed. The story had been replayed in detail many times, and Sasori and Deidara had been taken away long before.

It looked as if nearly the entire police force were there packed in Sasuke's kitchen and living room, a lot of them stationed outside, too. There were ambulances and doctors around, who looked after everyone's wounds. Iruka and Naruto were both alright (Naruto had only been punched very hard that once), and not much could be done about Sasuke's bitten lip. He'd suffered no damage from the small bomb Deidara had exploded near him that once. Kakashi, however, was taken away for a little while, and returned with a completely bandaged-up shoulder. The man was now dozing lightly on Iruka, probably because of the narcotics he'd been given.

A pot of coffee had also been made. Someone had asked Sasuke if it were alright, and the Uchiha had nearly jumped to agree. Caffeine would not do a whole hell of a lot for him right now, but dammit he needed _something_.

Finally, things were beginning to wear down, and people were starting to leave. It was dark out now, though the whole incident had begun and ended early that morning. Sasuke worried for Itachi. He hoped his brother was alright - the wound had looked pretty bad, despite his insistence that he was fine. And he kind of felt guilty now too, for hitting him earlier. Sasuke... really shouldn't have done that. All he wanted now, even if it _was_ just running away again, was to lose himself in Itachi's arms again. He wanted to go to his brother, and have Itachi hold him and play with his hair and whisper, "sleep little brother," in his ear once more.

Sasuke wondered if he would ever have the chance to do that again. It was a lonely thought.

Kakashi woke again after a while, and he and Iruka insisted that things would be fine - the two of them would stay here with Sasuke for the night, and watch over him. And so, the rest of everybody finally left, and the apartment fell eerily quiet. Sasuke was working on his _fourth_ cup of coffee now, but he didn't think that the normal things would take effect for quite a bit more. He was too already shaken up by everything else to really think that a simple thing like caffeine would get him worked up now.

Once the last cop - besides Kakashi - and medical examiner were finally gone, Sasuke stood from the couch, and made his way half-running, but cautiously, to his bedroom door. He paused with a hand on the doorknob, aware that everyone was watching him now. He was too afraid of what he would see there, on the other side of the door, to really have the courage to push it open.

Finally, he convinced himself - he'd been nothing but useless all day, and Itachi was hurt because of him. The least he could do was see if his brother was okay now. Still... Sasuke's heart was pounding hard as he went in.

Itachi was sitting on the bed in the dark. Sasuke flipped on the light, to see that his brother was sitting in a half-crouched position, as if to kill the pain in his side a little. He'd ripped a large strip of cloth off of his Akatsuki jacket, and tied it tightly like a bandage around his waist where he was injured.

"Itachi," Sasuke breathed the moment he saw him. There was blood staining most of Itachi's clothes now, and Itachi's hands, and Sasuke's bed sheets. Sasuke didn't care. His brother was watching him with darkened eyes.

Sasuke ran to his side, and took his brother's hand. Itachi didn't say a word. He didn't even look at him.

"Still alive?" Kakashi asked coldly from the bedroom doorway, and Sasuke could have just scowled at him - if he were not so worried. "You should come in here. I stole some medical supplies from the hospital while I was there."

"I wont pretend to know why you lied for me," Itachi said as he came into the living room. He was moving rather slowly, a hand gripping his side. Sasuke had slipped one of Itachi's arms around his shoulders to help him walk, and he could nearly _hear_ his brother's thoughts when Itachi looked down at him and gave a half-amused smile. Could the younger brother really take care of the older brother like that? Sasuke wasn't sure but he was sure as hell going to try.

Kakashi sighed as if he had a headache, in reply to Itachi's comment. "Just say thank you, shut up, and sit down. We need to look at your gun wound before you bleed to death already."

They brought in the one wooden chair from Sasuke's little kitchen, and Itachi gently unraveled his makeshift bandages, and easily slid his shirt off. The sight of so much dried blood on his clothes and skin nearly made Sasuke sick. Iruka, with his warm hands, cleaned the wound for Kakashi, and then the man set to work. He knew wounds and how to deal with them better than any of the rest of them did. Sasuke sat on the floor at Itachi's side and numbly held his brother's hand.

The atmosphere became quite quickly. Itachi winced a few times, but didn't complain or make a sound as Kakashi worked. For a while, Sasuke could feel Itachi's eyes on him, but Sasuke couldn't force himself to look up. He wasn't ready to look his brother in the face. Instead, he curled up in that position again - legs pulled up, and his head resting on his knees - and quietly called Naruto over. The blonde boy didn't hesitate. He was at Sasuke's side in an instant, and took hold of his other -free- hand. Sitting there, holding on to both Itachi _and _Naruto's hands... it was surreal. Everything changed color for Sasuke again, and for a moment, he just wanted... to not _be_ anymore.

Eventually, Kakashi finished up, and now Itachi had real and fresh bandages around him. With a small, painful sigh, Sasuke's brother stood, and pulled his shirt back on. Sasuke let go of both the hands he was holding to.

"You should leave," Kakashi said flatly, staring at the man. "Leave, and don't come back to Konoha."

Itachi nodded. "Yes," he agreed. "I'll be doing that now."

Still sitting in the floor, looking up at him, Sasuke began to panic. Itachi was going to leave? Just like that? And Sasuke would likely never see him again.... Would he be safe? Would the Akatsuki find him again? How was Itachi going to _live_ now? He couldn't just go back to who he had been before. Both lives of his past were now gone forever - one, he had killed with his own hands, and the other, destroyed today.

Was this really the last moment Sasuke would have with his brother?

Naruto was the only one who noticed his panic. "Hey," the blonde boy interrupted. "Kakashi-sensei, can't we...." He swallowed hard as all eyes turned on him. "Can't we at least let Sasuke and... and Itachi say goodbye?" His blue eyes were widened again, as he glanced sincerely from Kakashi to Sasuke and back again.

Kakashi looked at his two students for a very long moment, then sighed. "Fine," he agreed. He turned to Itachi. "Five minutes. That's it." The silver haired man took Iruka by the hand, and lead him and Naruto out the front door. Naruto glanced over his shoulder at Sasuke once just before they exited.


	15. epilogue, Coming To A Close & Moving On

epilogue:: =Coming To A Close and Moving On=

_**A/N: **__How sad, that it's over. T.T_

* * *

_The two of them stood there, alone like that in that quiet apartment. And then Itachi pulled his brother close, and kissed him for what he knew would be one of the very last times. Tears materialized at the corners of Sasuke's eyes and fell, and if Itachi were not the heartless bastard he had become, he probably would have cried too._

_Suddenly Sasuke made a little sound that caught in the back of his throat. With trembling hands the younger brother reached out, and began to tug on Itachi's shirt - his wordless insistence for Itachi to take it off again._

_Itachi broke the kiss - that was a first - and held Sasuke's hands in his, to stop him. "No, Sasuke," he breathed, looking down at his younger brother with slightly saddened eyes._

_"Why not Itachi...?" Sasuke demanded quietly. But this was their... after this...._

_And yet, when Sasuke thought about it, he understood. Itachi didn't answer, because he didn't need to. It was __because__ these were their final moments together - Itachi did not want to waste them in lust. Finally Sasuke's brother was doing something right; and damn him for it, because it meant that they could never be together again._

_"Why won't you take me with you?" Sasuke asked, his forehead against Itachi's chest. He already knew that Itachi was not going to take him - he just wanted to know why. He was going to miss his brother... everything about his brother - his scent... even his red eyes._

_Itachi lightly kissed the top of Sasuke's head, and sighed sadly. "You need to stay here, with people who will care for you, and live as normal a life as possible. I won't... be able to take care of you where I'm going?"_

_Sasuke wanted to say that he'd never be able to live a normal life. Itachi himself had stolen away every chance of that long ago, but Sasuke did not blame him for it. "Where are you going?" he asked quietly._

_"You know I can't tell you that."_

_Sasuke looked up at his brother with pleading eyes. Damn tears. They were getting in the way of seeing Itachi's face clearly, and this was his last chance. "You're not even going to promise to come back for me again? I said before that I wouldn't be able to wait anymore... but I can. I can do it Itachi. Just promise...."_

_But Itachi was shaking his hand slightly, and Sasuke stifled the tiniest sob. That was a first, too. Uchihas didn't ever sob. "You know that's not going to happen Sasuke. I can't come back here. And you can't come looking for me."_

_"...But what if I want to see you again?"_

_Itachi lifted Sasuke's face up once more, and looked down at him. "Then just know that I want to see you too." He kissed Sasuke again, and then even again, when that kiss didn't last long enough. "I'll miss you... Sasuke," he sighed._

_Sasuke couldn't answer. His voice was tight inside his throat, and it felt like all he could do was kiss his brother and cry._

_Before Sasuke could catch up with the time that was passing, Itachi had already left with a final goodbye, now gone from his life forever...._

* * *

Everyone at school could tell that Sasuke Uchiha had gone through some sort of major change in his life. It was a small difference - at times, his eyes would become marginally sad, and most of the edge was absent from his voice whenever he snapped at people. Still, all of them, not just the annoying fangirls, had noticed.

Sasuke was finally able to abandon his therapists. When he came into their office the next time he attended school, they immediately began to fret over him again, but he told them, in a quiet sort of voice that he had never used with them so that they might understand, that he simply did not need them. They must have noticed the same change in him that everyone else had, because rather than arguing, they agreed with surprising lack of resistance.

Naturally everyone thought it was the "Naruto Incident" and the "Kakashi Incident" that had had this effect on the Uchiha. By the time Sasuke had actually decided to go back to school again, rumors had spread about Naruto's near-death experience, and also about the uproar at Sasuke's apartment that night, which had resulted in an injured shoulder from Kakashi-sensei. Not many of them knew any of the real details at all, and the stories about what had happened with Naruto in the alleyway were all greatly embellished and some even _completely _untrue. And Naruto, who really quite liked being the center of attention -and he was, since Kakashi would not answer any questions about what had happened to _him_- did not help matters in the slightest.

Anyway it was obvious that the two - the Uchiha and the Uzumaki - were no longer rivals. Or anywhere close to rivalry, really. Rumors did not spread about it at all... because there was no need. It was there, clearly, for anybody to see. Sasuke's facial expressions had always consisted of either boredom, anger, or bitterness before, and it was still kind of like that now.... The only real difference was that, before, he had seemed not to care for anything - not even his tragic past. Recently he seemed to have something heavy on his mind though. People could look at him and tell that he was thinking deeply about something - possibly something painful... but no one knew for sure, and that's what made it such a great mystery. And no one had ever seen this... freakishly almost delicate side of the Uchiha before either, so they were mostly too surprised by it to really say anything about it.

Not only was Sasuke bitter now, but he was also quite distracted most of the time. And Naruto was always by his side now, too. Really, Naruto was the only one who was even "allowed" near the Uchiha - though it was an unspoken thing. Everyone else was more afraid to get near him now than they had been even before.

Naruto and Sasuke never touched, or even really talked to one another much. They were just always _near_ each other. And surprisingly enough, it was not below the Uchiha to, whenever said blonde boy was not around, to seek him out for himself. That was odd enough in itself, because never before had Sasuke Uchiha willingly been around _anybody_. But no, it was not that Sasuke seemed to particularly _enjoy_ Naruto's company. It was just that... he looked as if he felt out of place whenever Naruto wasn't around.

And then one day, it happened.

This... phenomenal occurrence came forth one ordinary day, during third period Kakashi Hatake's English class. It was not unusual for Sasuke to put his head down on his desk and go to sleep, so no one paid any special attention to it this time either. Something _was _different though. Sasuke did have his head down, but he did not seem to be sleeping. He'd had that ever-so-slightly melancholy look on his face again all that day, as if he'd been remembering unpleasant things. Then, there was the sound of a small, quiet sniff from his seat, and though the sound had been tiny and insignificant, many heads turned his way. Even Kakashi-sensei himself glanced over at Sasuke, but the man continued teaching, not missing a beat.

Many people then either shrugged it off by thinking that it had been a false alarm, or that they were hearing things, because there was no _way _that Sasuke Uchiha of all people would be _crying_. Sure enough however, when Sasuke turned his head so that his face was showing, there were tears in his eyes. Shocked classmates stared openly in wide-eyed silence, unable to say a word.

"Sasuke?" Naruto, who was sitting next to him again of course, asked quietly. And the students were all obviously more interested in the goings on over there than they were of Kakashi-sensei's lecture. Kakashi just went on teaching though - he knew it would embarrass Sasuke if he stopped and called him out.

The students watched, captivated, as Naruto rested his head on his own desk, so that he could be at eyelevel with the Uchiha. Sasuke looked at Naruto then, and really seemed to be _looking_ at him - with eyes so sad and deep and knowing that had surely never been seen on an Uchiha before. It was out of place, and yet it very nearly broke the hearts of all those watching. Naruto slowly took one of Sasuke's hands in his, throwing Sasuke a quick cautious look, just in case such a thing were not okay with the Uchiha. And those witnesses all saw the slight pressure put on Naruto's hand as Sasuke squeezed it gently back.

Several Sasuke Uchiha fangirls died inside that day.

And after that incident, no one - not even Sasuke or Naruto themselves - spoke of it out loud. The two's relationship quickly became public. Public meaning that Naruto would sometimes touch Sasuke on the arm, or that one or the other could be seen arriving or leaving the other's apartment at any time of the day. They never kissed (that anyone could see, and there were those that tried), and they never held hands after that once, either. On the surface it appeared to be a sort of love-hate relationship, what with all the bickering and cursing and name calling that continued between the two every day, but anyone who looked even a little closer could see that they didn't really mean any of those harsh things.

Over time - a few months after the "Naruto and Kakashi Incidents" - things finally settled down, and the newly formed relationship between the two became almost commonplace. And some of those few people who still watched soon became aware of the fact that, somewhere along the line, Sasuke Uchiha had learned to smile. Sometimes, it was a bitter sweet smile, and sometimes, it was the carefree smirk he gave whenever calling Naruto a dobe. But there were times when he just looked so happy. It was weird; disturbing to some and touching to others, but the first time it happened, it really _moved_ everybody who actually noticed. Surely nobody had ever seen an Uchiha smile quite like _that_.

* * *

It was late, and they were in Naruto's apartment this time. The two of them usually spent the nights together, because night was a particularly rough time for Sasuke -- as much as he hated to admit it. He hated for Naruto - well, for _anybody_ - to see him like that... so messed up... but it couldn't be helped. Once Naruto learned how broken down Sasuke became at night, he started insisting on spending _every_ night with him. Yeah, yeah, Sasuke knew the dobe was just trying to help and be a comfort, but couldn't he see that Sasuke just wanted to be left _alone_ sometimes? Grief was not exactly something that he was used to feeling, and therefore he did it quite ungracefully. Not to mention that he hated crying. If he were alone, it wouldn't be so bad. That time at school had been a one-time slip-up. Dammit.

Don't get him wrong though - sometimes, he had to admit, it was nice to have Naruto there. When Sasuke became exhausted, and the tears on his face finally began to dry, it wasn't so bad to feel Naruto's arms around him. Because Naruto was Sasuke source of warmth in this world that had grown so cold - as overly dramatic as that sounded. Sasuke had by now found out for himself that every single cliché about heartbreaks were all absolutely true, damn them. And he didn't like it.

He and Naruto were talking about Itachi again this night. For just short of two weeks that he had spent with his brother, one wouldn't think there'd be that much to say - but oh, there were. By now Sasuke had told Naruto everything. The blonde dobe probably had it all memorized by now - what had happened in the past, the conversations Sasuke and Itachi had had, the nail painting incident and all that.... And yet even when he repeated himself, Naruto would listen to every word, looking at him with those blue eyes of his, and he never complained.

It didn't matter anyway - their time together was not about the words. The words didn't matter. Because Naruto and Sasuke had never really communicated that way. All throughout the time they'd known one another, their words had always been hateful and sometimes cruel, but there had always been something else. Now, that had become more apparent.

They still never really said anything too... sappy. There was an occasional "I love you" thrown in there - mostly by Naruto of course. But they spoke more with their actions than their words. Their "I love you's" were more of... every time that Naruto refused to leave whenever he knew Sasuke was feeling down, or the way that Sasuke would look for Naruto at school whenever he wasn't around. As mentioned before, such a thing was unusual coming from Sasuke, and it might have seemed simple, but it really touched Naruto.

By now on _this _night, the two of them had finally fallen silent, and Sasuke was just beginning to drift when Naruto spoke again. "You're always going to love him aren't you?" he asked quietly, and he didn't need to say that he was talking about Itachi.

"I don't know," Sasuke replied tiredly. "Maybe."

But they both knew this to be a lie. Sasuke would _always_ be at least a little in love with Itachi, and he and Naruto both knew it.


End file.
